Search results for "contamination"

Evaluation of mycotoxins and their metabolites in human breast milk using liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry

2014

Humans can be exposed to mycotoxins through the food chain. Mycotoxins are mainly found as contaminants in food and could be subsequently excreted via biological fluids such as urine or human breast milk in native or metabolised form. Since breast milk is usually supposed as the only food for new-borns, the occurrence of mycotoxins in thirty-five human milk samples was evaluated by a newly developed method based on QuEChERS extraction and UHPLC-HRMS detection. The method described here allows the detection of target mycotoxins in order to determine the quality of this initial feeding. The method has been fully validated, with recoveries ranging from 64% to 93% and relative standard deviatio…

Determination of organic pollutants in Anguilla anguilla by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

2021

© 2021 The Authors.

Phylogeny and Mycotoxin Characterization of Alternaria Species Isolated from Wheat Grown in Tuscany, Italy

2018

Wheat, the main source of carbohydrates worldwide, can be attacked by a wide number of phytopathogenic fungi, included Alternaria species. Alternaria species commonly occur on wheat worldwide and produce several mycotoxins such as tenuazonic acid (TA), alternariol (AOH), alternariol-monomethyl ether (AME), and altenuene (ALT), provided of haemato-toxic, genotoxic, and mutagenic activities. The contamination by Alternaria species of wheat kernels, collected in Tuscany, Italy, from 2013 to 2016, was evaluated. Alternaria contamination was detected in 93 out of 100 field samples, with values ranging between 1 and 73% (mean of 18%). Selected strains were genetically characterized by multi-locus…

Epidemiological analysis of Salmonella enterica from beef sampled in the slaughterhouse and retailers in Dakar (Senegal) using pulsed-field gel elect…

2007

Seventy-eight isolates of Salmonella spp. isolated from beef sampled from the official city slaughterhouse and from retailers in Dakar, Senegal were analyzed using serotyping, antimicrobial testing and macrorestriction profiling by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). These analyses were done to identify clonal relationships and potential transmission routes in beef channel. XbaI macrorestriction allowed defining 17 genotypes among the six main analyzed serotypes: Salmonella bredeney (3 genotypes), S. muenster (6), S. waycross (1), S. corvallis (3), S. kentucky (1) and S. brandenburg (3). The cross analysis of PFGE profiles and origin of the beef samples reveals a wide range of contamin…

Prevalence and antibiotic-resistance of Salmonella isolated from beef sampled from the slaughterhouse and from retailers in Dakar (Senegal)

2005

A study was made of Salmonella contamination in beef sampled from a slaughterhouse and from retailers in Dakar, Senegal. The serotypes as well as antibiotic-resistance patterns of the Salmonella isolates were determined. A total of 435 meat samples (236 from the slaughterhouse, 199 from retailers) were tested. Among them, 275 (63%) were positive for Salmonella, 43% (101/236) from the slaughterhouse and 87% (174/199) from the retailers. Furthermore, 97% of the investigated retailers had at least one beef sample contaminated by Salmonella. The 286 Salmonella isolates were divided into 51 serotypes. The most prevalent serotypes were Salmonella bredeney (25%), S. muenster (8%), S. waycross (7%)…

Proposal of reference values of microbiological environment monitoring in foodservice establishments

2015

Introducción: Proponer una nueva referencia microbiológica ambiental en los servicios de restauración. Objetivo: El presente trabajo muestra la determinación y evaluación de la contaminación microbiológica generada en un establecimiento de servicio de alimentos. Método: Se basa en el muestreo microbiológico de superficie utilizando filtros de membrana de ésteres mixtos de celulosa y en el muestreo de aire utilizando placas de Petri. Resultados: Los límites de contaminación se establecieron antes y durante la elaboración de alimentos, mediante el análisis microbiológico de las superficies y del medio ambiente, sistemas de equipos, hasta límites confiables y estableciendo niveles de aceptació…

Effects of Humic Substances and Soya Lecithin on the Aerobic Bioremediation of a Soil Historically Contaminated by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (…

2004

The high hydrophobicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) strongly reduces their bioavailability in aged contaminated soils, thus limiting their bioremediation. The biodegradation of PAHs in soils can be enhanced by employing surface-active agents. However, chemical surfactants are often recalcitrant and exert toxic effects in the amended soils. The effects of two biogenic materials as pollutant-mobilizing agents on the aerobic bioremediation of an aged-contaminated soil were investigated here. A soil historically contaminated by about 13 g kg(-1) of a large variety of PAHs, was amended with soya lecithin (SL) or humic substances (HS) at 1.5% w/w and incubated in aerobic solid-phas…

In vivo exposure of the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula Schmidt, 1862 to cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) and its potential use for bioremedia…

2018

Abstract The study aimed to test the cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) bioaccumulation capacity of the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula and to measure the expression of metallothioneins (MTs) by a western blotting assay to explore metal tolerance and its potential use as a bioremediator in contaminated coastal areas. C. nucula was sampled in a protected marine area in order to perform experiments on organisms living in a healthy environment. Under laboratory conditions, the sponges were exposed to increasing concentrations of Cd, Cu and Pb in tanks filled with artificial seawater set up for the experiments. For each metal, three waterborne concentrations (mgL−1) of Cd (0.02–0.04-0.08),…

Comparison of stable isotope composition and inorganic and organic contaminant levels in wild and farmed bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, in the Medite…

2009

Abstract Stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) and persistent pollutants, including heavy metals (Hg, Cd, Pb, As, Cu, Zn) and organochlorine compounds (PCBs, HCB and p,p′-DDE), were measured in muscle and liver tissues of wild and farmed bluefin tunas to investigate the changes occurring during the farming period and to assess the quality, in terms of contaminants, of the final product. At the end of farming, the food supplied was clearly integrated into the tuna tissues as derived from stable isotope signatures, and, contrarily to the literature findings obtained for other species, farmed tunas showed slight variations in persistent elements and chemical compounds in comparison with w…

Analysis of lipids in pelagic fish of Sicilian Channel and use of fatty acids as bacterial contamination markers

Lipids provide the expendable form of energy in marine ecosystem, and have an important role for the reproductive biology of fish. Also, lipids are important nutrients, versatile markers for marine trophic studies, bacteria markers etc. Among the lipids, several essential fatty acids are determinants for ecosystem health as well as for their known nutritional properties and prevention capacity of chronic diseases. Furan fatty acids (F - acids) are other important lipid bioactive compounds; for these is hypothesized a crucial nutritional role that is synergistic to polyunsaturated fatty acids omega 3 (PUFA ω 3), also if their mechanism is not yet clear. Source of essential fatty acid is the …