AN ASSESSMENT OF AFLATOXIN B₁ IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF A RICE GROWING COMMUNITY AND ASSOCIATED CANCER RISK

Abstract

A study to assess possible exposure to carcinogenic metabolites (aflatoxins) from a mold Aspergillus flavus has been conducted in a rice producing area of Brazoria County, Texas. One hundred samples of unmilled rice were analyzed by thin‐layer chromatography (TLC) for the amount of aflatoxin produced by the mold during rice growth and storage. Two well water samples and two rice elevator dust samples were also checked for possible aflatoxin content. The cancer mortality rates (gastrointestinal and urinary tracts cancers) in the rice‐growing and nonrice‐growing areas of the same county were compared. No aflatoxin was detected by TLC methods in rice, rice dusts or water samples. When extracts of rice dusts were checked for mutagenesis by the Ames Salmonella assay as a supplement to the TLC analysis, the results suggested that these dusts might have contained mutagenic material. This observation notwithstanding, we found no evidence that the rice produced in the studied part of the Gulf Coast had a problem of aflatoxin contamination. Also, cancer mortality rates for two major organ systems were not found to differ for rice‐producing and nonrice‐producing areas of rural Brazoria County.