Mycotoxin data from Europe – results and policy implications – 28 April – 10:35 am CEST

Human exposure to mycotoxins occurs mainly through contaminated food consumption and it is expected to raise, due to climate change. As such, to protect human health, there is an urgent need to monitor human exposure in Europe. Key achievements from the work developed under the HBM4EU for deoxynivalenol (DON) and Fumosinin B₁ (FB₁), include: i) a total urinary DON biomarker and several qualified European laboratories to perform DON analysis;  ii) aligned studies, showing exposure in adults increasing from west to east; iii) risk assessment of DON with exposures of some individuals above the 90th percentile representing a potential health concern; iv) toxicokinetics models ongoing; v) an adverse outcome pathway developed for FB1 and neural tube defects and vi) the sphinganine/sphingosine ratio identified as an biomarker for FB₁. Main research needs and gaps, lessons learnt and future perspectives for using biomonitoring to address policy related questions will be discussed.

Paula Alvito. PhD Biology, researcher at Food and Nutrition Department and EUROTOX Registered Toxicologist ERT. Integrated member of Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Portugal. She focus her research interests on food safety and food toxicology, namely, mycotoxins and its mixtures occurrence, toxicity, risk assessment, bioavailability and human biomonitoring. Reviewer of peer review journals on food safety and member of the editorial board of World Mycotoxin Journal. Participates in international projects including HBM4EU where she is chemical group leader for mycotoxins, and coordinates national ones (mycotoxins mixtures and early-life exposure). Supervises MSc and PhD thesis. Organizes national and international scientific conferences.