Human and animal dietary exposure to T‐2 and HT‐2 toxin

Abstract

T-2 toxin (T2) and HT-2 (HT2) toxin are trichothecenes, which form part of the group of Fusarium mycotoxins. Food and feed samples used to estimate human dietary and animal exposure were reported either as the individual results for T2 and/or, HT2, and/or as the sum of the two. The highest concentrations were reported in oats and oat-containing commodities. Very high levels were reported in a small number of data on specific plant-and herb-based dietary supplements. In humans, the mean chronic dietary exposure to the sum of T2 and HT2 was highest in 'Toddlers' and 'Infants', with maximum upper bound (UB) estimates of 64.8 and 62.9 ng/kg body weight (bw) per day, respectively. The 95th percentile dietary exposure was highest in 'Infants' with a maximum UB estimate of 146 ng/kg bw per day. UB estimations were on average fourfold higher than lower bound (LB) estimations. Average acute exposure ranged from a minimum of 13.4 ng/kg bw per day, estimated in 'Elderly', up to a maximum of 64.7 ng/kg bw per day estimated in 'Toddlers'. The highest 95th percentile acute dietary exposure was estimated for a dietary survey within the age class 'Infants' (170 ng/kg bw per day). Overall, among processed foods the main contributors were cereal flakes, fine bakery wares and, for acute exposure, also bread and rolls. In the elderly and very elderly, dietary supplements made an important contribution. Exposure to the sum of T2 and HT2 in farm and companion animals varied according to the animal species. Exposures considering mean concentration scenarios varied between 0.03-0.08 (LB-UB) lg/kg bw per day in beef cattle and 1.13-1.47 lg/kg bw per day in milking goats. For high concentration scenarios, exposures varied between 0.12-0.16 lg/kg bw per day and 2.37-2.58 lg/kg bw per day in the same species. In the absence of data, potential modified form were not included.

Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Extruded Commercial Cat Food

“…Given the rapid in vivo conversion of T-2 to HT-2, in vivo toxicity of T-2 is recognized to include that of HT-2. 31 According to a recent EFSA opinion, cats are extremely sensitive to this mycotoxin category, 40 and probably for this reason, some years ago, the European legislation was implemented with a guidance value for T-2 + HT-2 only referred to this last species. 25 Recently, some studies have reported a wide occurrence of T-2 and HT-2 in cereals and animal feed.…”

Presence of Mycotoxins in Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) Food Supplements: A Review

“…PMTDI was established for T-2 and HT-2 alone or in combination of 0.06 µg/kg bw per day obtained in a 3-week dietary study in pigs [ 128 ]. A new group TDI of 0.02 µg/kg bw was established by EFSA for the sum of T-2 and HT-2 based on an in vivo sub-chronic toxicity study with rats [ 129 ].…”

“…For the sum of T-2 and HT-2, the TDI has been set at 0.02 μg/kg bw per day [ 129 ], which means 1.4 μg for a 70 kg human. In the worst-case scenario, for a human of this weight, a single RDD of 3 capsules of MT-based supplement has accounted for 1590% of TDI [ 3 ].…”

Factors underlying Dutch farmers' intentions to adapt their agronomic management to reduce Fusarium species infection in wheat

“…Hence, legal maximum limits for the presence of mycotoxins in feed and food have been set in Europe and other parts of the world to protect animal and human health [8]. In spite of these limits, human exposure assessments in Europe have shown that the intake of some mycotoxins is currently above the tolerable daily intake for certain vulnerable groups [7,9]. The past four years, two large European Union's Horizon 2020 funded research and innovation projects focussed on further reducing mycotoxin contamination in feed and food commodities like wheat (www.mycokey.…”