Thumbnail Image

Human dietary exposure to chemicals in sub-Saharan Africa: safety assessment through a total diet study

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 9

Author Ingenbleek, L., Verger, P., Gimou, M. M., Adegboye, A., Adebayo, S. B., Hossou, S. E., ... & Dansou, S.

Publisher Elsevier B.V. ;

Product type Article

Synopsis (short abstract) Background Human dietary exposure to chemicals can result in a wide range of adverse health effects. Some substances might cause non-communicable diseases, including cancer and coronary heart diseases, and could be nephrotoxic. Food is the main human exposure route for many chemicals. We aimed to assess human dietary exposure to a wide range of food chemicals. Methods We did a total diet study in Benin, Cameroon, Mali, and Nigeria. We assessed 4020 representative samples of foods, prepared as consumed, which covered more than 90% of the diet of 7291 households from eight study centres. By combining representative dietary surveys of countries with findings for concentrations of 872 chemicals in foods, we characterised human dietary exposure. Findings Exposure to lead could result in increases in adult blood pressure up to 2·0 mm Hg, whereas children might lose 8·8–13·3 IQ points (95th percentile in Kano, Nigeria). Morbidity factors caused by coexposure to aflatoxin B1 and hepatitis B virus, and sterigmatocystin and fumonisins, suggest several thousands of additional liver cancer cases per year, and a substantial contribution to the burden of chronic malnutrition in childhood. Exposure to 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from consumption of smoked fish and edible oils exceeded levels associated with possible carcinogenicity and genotoxicity health concerns in all study centres. Exposure to aluminium, ochratoxin A, and citrinin indicated a public health concern about nephropathies. From 470 pesticides tested across the four countries, only high concentrations of chlorpyrifos in smoked fish (unauthorised practice identified in Mali) could pose a human health risk. Interpretation Risks characterised by this total diet study underscore specific priorities in terms of food safety management in sub-Saharan Africa. Similar investigations specifically targeting children are crucially needed.

Open Access Article. This article is academically peer-reviewed and published externally. The article is published in The Lancet Planetary Health Volume 4, Issue 7 in July 2020

Cite this content as:

Ingenbleek, L., Verger, P., Gimou, M. M., Adegboye, A., Adebayo, S. B., Hossou, S. E., ... & Dansou, S. (2020). Human dietary exposure to chemicals in sub-Saharan Africa: safety assessment through a total diet study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(7), e292-e300.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30104-2

Language English

Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Total Diet Study as a tool to assess chemical contamination of foods - application in Sub-Saharan Africa 2014
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    Risk based approaches to food safety management are well accepted, yet the evidence and scientific basis to support such an approach is often lacking. This is the case for many developing countries. For example, limited information is available on the food chemical hazards which might be of concern in sub-Saharan Africa. While the approaches used by national governments to get the required information may vary, one of those approaches promoted and endorsed by FAO/WHO is the Total Diet Study (TDS ) approach. The TDS is considered to be the most cost-effective means of assessing the safety and nutritional quality of the diet by monitoring chemicals, such as pesticides and heavy metals, in foods to estimate dietary exposures and to characterize associated risk to public health. The full set of Highlights on FAO food safety and quality activities is available at the following Url: http://www.fao.org/3/a-au638e/index.html.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Article
    Sub-Saharan Africa total diet study in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria: Pesticides occurrence in foods 2019
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    In the framework of the first regional Total Diet Study in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3696 foodstuffs, commonly consumed in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria were purchased, prepared as consumed and pooled into 308 composite samples. Those core foods were tested for up to 470 pesticides residues by liquid and gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. 39 pesticides were detected with 294 total occurrences, including 47.3% organophosphate pesticides and 35.7% pyrethroids. More specifically, 6 substances represented 75.5% of all 3 organophosphates and 3 pyrethroids: chlorpyrifos (22.4%) cypermethrin (18.0%) dichlorvos (13.6%), lambdacyhalothrin (8.2%), permethrin (7.5%) and profenofos (5.8%). One pesticide or more was detected in 45.8% of samples. Strikingly, several pesticides were quantified in 2 composite samples of smoked fish from Mali: chlorpyrifos (5236–18 084μg/kg), profenofos (30–182μg/kg), cypermethrin (22–250μg/kg), cyfluthrin (16–117μg/kg), lambdacyhalothrin(9–17μg/kg) and permethrin (3–6μg/kg).
  • Thumbnail Image
    Article
    Methodology design of the regional Sub-Saharan Africa Total Diet Study in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria 2017
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    The core food model was described more than three decades ago, and has been used ever since to identify main food contributors to dietary intakes for both nutrients and other food chemicals. The Sub-Saharan Africa Total Diet Study (SSA-TDS) uses this model to describe the food consumption habits of some selected populations of Benin, Cameroon, Mali, and Nigeria, prior to use in the completion of quantitative risk assessments with regard to food chemicals. Food consumption data were derived from food expenditure data contained in national household budget surveys that were provided by the national institutes of statistics in each country. A classification of African foods was established for the purpose of the study and core foods were selected, so as to reflect 96 ± 1% of the average national total diet expressed in weight. Populations from eight study centers were selected by national stakeholders. This approach involves the purchase of 4020 individual foods, prepared as consumed and pooled into 335 food composite samples, for analysis of mycotoxins, PAHs, PCBs and dioxins, pesticides, metals and trace elements, PFAs, and BFRs. This sampling plan aims to provide a representative, cost effective, and replicable approach for deterministic dietary exposure assessments in developing countries.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.