This study was conducted to investigate mycotoxin exposure in 260 rural residents (age 18–66 years) in Nanjing, China. Paired plasma and first morning urine samples were analyzed for 26 mycotoxin biomarkers, including 12 parent mycotoxins and 14 mycotoxin metabolites, by an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method. Mycotoxins and their metabolites were detected in 95/260 (36.5%) plasma samples and 144/260 (55.4%) urine samples. The most prevalent mycotoxin in plasma was ochratoxin A (OTA), with the incidence of 27.7% (range 0.312–9.18 μg/L), while aflatoxin B₁-lysine (AFB₁-lysine) (incidence 19.6%, range 10.5–74.5 pg/mg albumin), fumonisin B₁ (FB₁) (incidence 2.7%, range 0.305–0.993 μg/L), deoxynivalenol (DON) (incidence 2.3%, range 1.39–5.53 μg/L), zearalenone (ZEN) (incidence 6.5%, range 0.063–0.418 μg/L) and zearalanone (ZAN) (incidence 1.2%, range 0.164–0.346 μg/L) were also detected in plasma samples. Deoxynivalenol-15-glucuronide (DON-15-GlcA) was the most frequently detected urinary mycotoxin, with the incidence of 43.8% (range 0.828–37.7 μg/L). DON (incidence 10.0%, range 1.39–14.7 μg/L), DON-3-glucuronide (DON-3-GlcA) (incidence 15.8%, range 0.583–5.84 μg/L), aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) (incidence 10.4%, range 0.125–0.464 μg/L), ZAN (incidence 7.7%, range 0.106–1.82 μg/L), ZEN (incidence 6.9%, range 0.056–0.311 μg/L), FB₁ (incidence 3.1%, range 0.230–1.33 μg/L), T-2 toxin (incidence 2.3%, range 0.248–3.61 μg/L) and OTA (incidence 1.2%, range 0.153–0.557 μg/L) were also found in urine samples. Based on the plasma or urinary levels, the daily intakes of AFB₁, FB₁, ZEN, DON and OTA were estimated. The results showed that the investigated rural dwellers were exposed to multiple mycotoxins, especially to carcinogenic mycotoxin AFB₁ with a mean daily intake of 0.41 μg/kg·bw/day, thereby underlining a potential public health concern. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate human exposure to mycotoxins with direct measurements of multiple mycotoxins in paired plasma and urine samples for over 200 subjects of a single population.

Aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) and ochratoxin A (OTA) are highly toxic mycotoxin metabolites that are found as food pollutants, posing health risks to humans and animals. The objective of the current study is to establish a sensitive, reliable method for determining AFM₁ and OTA using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and attempting to assess the efficacy of bentonite, date pit, and chitosan nanoparticles for AFM₁ and OTA detoxification from contaminated milk. As revealed, AFM₁ was found in 65.7% of analyzed samples ranging from 4.5 to 502 ng/L, while 25.7% of examined samples contained OTA ranging from 1.45 to 301 ng/L. Furthermore, for AFM₁ and OTA. The advanced procedure was thoroughly validated by evaluating linearity (R² > 0.999), LOD (0.9615 and 0.654 ng/L), and LOQ (2.8846 and 1.963 ng/L), recovery (93–95% and 87–91%), as well as precision (≤ 1%RSD). The experimental data revealed a higher removal efficiency of bentonite and date pit than chitosan nanoparticles in the case of AFM₁ (68%, 56%, and 12%) and OTA (64%, 52%, and 10%), respectively with slight change in nutritional milk components like fat, protein, and lactose. Eventually, it is concluded that bentonite and date pit can be considered efficient adsorbing agents to extract AFM₁ and OTA from contaminated milk.

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of filamentous fungi; they are common contaminants in numerous foods and beverages. Cyclodextrins are ring-shaped oligosaccharides, which can form host-guest type complexes with certain mycotoxins. Insoluble beta-cyclodextrin bead polymer (BBP) extracted successfully some mycotoxins (e.g., alternariol and zearalenone) from aqueous solutions, including beverages. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to examine the ability of BBP to remove other 12 mycotoxins (including aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin M1, citrinin, dihydrocitrinone, cyclopiazonic acid, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, patulin, sterigmatocystin, zearalanone, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol) from different buffers (pH 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0). Our results showed that BBP can effectively extract citrinin, dihydrocitrinone, sterigmatocystin, zearalanone, α-zearalanol, and β-zearalanol at each pH tested. However, for the removal of ochratoxin A, BBP was far the most effective at pH 3.0. Based on these observations, BBP may be a suitable mycotoxin binder to extract certain mycotoxins from aqueous solutions for decontamination and/or for analytical purposes.

Aflatoxin is one of the dangerous fungal toxins that is produced in the presence of humidity and heat and lack of proper storage conditions and is considered as a dangerous substance threatening human health. The work aimed to determination of aflatoxin M1 (AFM) level in raw, pasteurized, and sterilized milks offered in the study area and to evaluate the risk of its consumption. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 60 samples of milk types supplied in the region were collected during two series of sampling (cold and hot seasons) and analyzed by ELISA method. LCR, MoE, and HI indices were used to assess the possible risk of consuming milk containing AFM. In all taken samples AFM was found, the toxin concentration range in the first and second series of sampling was 57.5–270.6 ng/L and 57–185.9 ng/L, respectively. The level of toxin in pasteurized and sterilized milks in both sampling series was higher than raw milks. Based on the obtained data and in order to assess the risk of milk consumption in the target population, associated values with EDI, LCR, MoE, and HI were also calculated and obtained in the range of 0.145–0.3 ng/k.d b.w, 0.0008–0.0017 additional case per one million population, 1892.9–3921.6 and 0.72–1.5 ng/kg b.w, respectively. According to the findings, all samples tested are contaminated and although it is within the range of the WHO recommendation, however, based on the calculated indicators, the risk of liver cancer threatens the consumers of these milks. Therefore, it is necessary to manage this issue through educational control and monitoring measures.