Occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 and Risk Assessment in Bovine Milk from the Amazon Region

Abstract

Aflatoxins (AFL) are fungal metabolites that can contaminate animal feed, causing toxic effects after consumption. Among the AFL, there are reports of the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk, so the objective of this work was to evaluate the AFM1 content in bovine milk samples produced in the State of Amazonas-Brazil. Of the analyzed samples (n=30), 20% were found to be contaminated with AFM1 in the range of 0.093-0.320 μg/kg (Limit of detection= 0.0625 μg/mL). No sample exceeded current Brazilian legislation, but all exceeded the maximum European regulatory limit of 0.05 μg/kg. Risk analysis estimated a daily intake of 5.357 x 10-7 mg/kg body weight/day for men and 6.257 x 10-7 mg/kg body weight/day for women. The MOE result did not indicate concern in public health aspects. On the other hand, the occurrence of AFM1 in the state of Amazonas was observed in an unprecedented way and need further investigation including other dairy products.