Risk profiling of exposures to multiclass contaminants through cereals and cereal-based products consumption: A case study for the inhabitants in Shanghai, China

Abstract The co-occurrence of food contaminants has caught the public concern worldwide owing to their extensive distribution and the potential risk on human health. In this study, a total of 6471 samples of cereals and cereal-based products was collected from Shanghai between 2008 and 2011. The food contaminants co-occurred, including mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol and ochratoxin A), pesticides (organic phosphorus pesticides and methyl bromide), heavy metals (cadmium, lead, and inorganic arsenic), and food additives (aluminum and food pigments), were analyzed for their contents. The point evaluation and probabilistic evaluation based on the Monte Carlo model were performed to assess the risks of the contaminants. The results showed the mean levels of all the tested contaminants were lower than the maximum residue levels (MRLs) set by China, except aluminum, exceeding China MRLs of 100 mg/kg in 2010 and 2011. The point evaluation showed the mean daily exposures (40.7–63.9 ng/kg bw/day) of ochratoxin A in 2010 for different consumer groups were higher than the provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) of 17 ng/kg bw/day recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Meanwhile, the mean daily exposures of the tested contaminants in each year for 7-to-10-year old children were higher than those for adults. The probabilistic evaluation indicated that the margin of safety (MOS) values of the tested contaminants at percentile 95th (P95) were lower than 1, except aluminum, suggesting the potential health risk of aluminum intake to the consumer groups in Shanghai. Additionally, the risk ranking of these contaminants in cereals and cereal-based products was obtained as follows: aluminum > deoxynivalenol > ochratoxin A > inorganic arsenic > cadmium > lead > chlorpyrifos-methyl > malathion.