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Human Dietary Exposure to Fumonisin B1 from Iranian Maize Harvested During 1998–2000

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Abstract

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is the most abundant of the fumonisin mycotoxins, mainly produced in maize by F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. A previous study on the FB1 contamination of maize harvested in Mazandaran and Isfahan Provinces of Iran in 1998 and 1999 demonstrated contamination in both provinces. This present study was undertaken to further investigate the variation in levels of contamination and to estimate possible levels of human exposure to fumonisins in Iran. The mean level of FB1 in 49 visually healthy maize samples collected from Mazandaran Province during 2000 was 6.14 mg/kg, which is higher than that found during 1998 and 1999 (2.27 and 3.18 mg/kg, respectively). Although these levels are higher than the Iranian legislative limits for fumonisins in maize intended for humans, the relatively low estimated consumption of maize in Iran (3.3 g/person/day) implies that average exposures (0.011 and 0.215 μg/kg body weight/day in Isfahan and Mazandaran, respectively) are within the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake of 2 μg/kg body weight/day set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Nevertheless, certain sections of the population who may consume higher amounts of maize or who may replace all or some of their consumption of other cereals with maize, could well exceed this limit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, School of Pharmacy, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, PO Box 14155-6153, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    H. Yazdanpanah, S. N. Safavi & P. Eskandari

  2. Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, PO Box 14155-3817, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    H. Yazdanpanah

  3. PROMEC Unit, Medical Research Council, PO Box 19070, Tygerberg, 7505, South Africa

    G. S. Shephard, W. F. O. Marasas & L. van der Westhuizen

  4. Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture, Mazandaran University, PO Box 578, Sari, Islamic Republic of Iran

    H. Rahimian

  5. Medical Parasitology and Mycology Department, School of Medicine, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, PO Box 65155-518, Hamedan, Islamic Republic of Iran

    S. A. Ghiasian

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  1. H. Yazdanpanah
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  2. G. S. Shephard
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  3. W. F. O. Marasas
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  6. S. N. Safavi
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Correspondence to H. Yazdanpanah.

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Yazdanpanah, H., Shephard, G.S., Marasas, W.F.O. et al. Human Dietary Exposure to Fumonisin B1 from Iranian Maize Harvested During 1998–2000. Mycopathologia 161, 395–401 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-006-0017-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-006-0017-x

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