PMID- 23244511
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20130805
LR  - 20130117
IS  - 1944-0057 (Electronic)
IS  - 1944-0057 (Linking)
VI  - 30
IP  - 2
DP  - 2013
TI  - Risk assessment of buckwheat flour contaminated by thorn-apple (Datura stramonium 
      L.) alkaloids: a case study from Slovenia.
PG  - 321-30
LID - 10.1080/19440049.2012.743189 [doi]
AB  - In Slovenia, a mass poisoning incident involving 73 consumers with symptoms such 
      as dry mouth, hot red skin, blurred vision, tachycardia, urinary retention, 
      ataxia, speech disturbance, disorientation and visual hallucinations occurred in 
      2003. In all cases, consumers had eaten buckwheat flour food products within the 
      last few hours. Investigations by responsible authorities identified the 
      contamination of a range of buckwheat food products with thorn-apple (Datura 
      stramonium L.) seeds containing toxic alkaloids, atropine and scopolamine. To 
      ensure the safe consumption of buckwheat food products, we carried out risk 
      characterisation and proposed provisional maximum residue levels (MRLs) of 
      atropine and scopolamine mixture in buckwheat flour. In the absence of critical 
      "no observed adverse effect levels" for atropine and scopolamine, we based our 
      estimation of the acute reference doses on the lowest recommended therapeutic 
      doses. Taking into account the additive effect of the two alkaloids, we 
      calculated acute reference doses of the mixture, that is 0.05 microg/kg of body mass 
      for atropine and 0.03 microg/kg of body mass for scopolamine. MRLs for atropine and 
      scopolamine mixture in buckwheat flour were estimated in a worst-case scenario, 
      that is consumption of 100 g of flour by a child weighing 10 kg and taking into 
      account a range of atropine/scopolamine ratio in implicated food products, that 
      is 0.85-3.3. We proposed the national MRLs for atropine/scopolamine mixture in 
      buckwheat food products: 4.0 microg/kg (atropine) and 2.0 microg/kg(scopolamine). 
      However, in view of the large variability in the alkaloid content, depending on 
      the origin of the Datura, we propose that risk assessment should be carried out 
      on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the ratio between atropine and 
      scopolamine content in a particular sample.
FAU - Perharic, Lucija
AU  - Perharic L
AD  - National Institute of Public Health, Centre for Infectious Diseases and 
      Environmental Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia. lucija.perharic@ivz-rs.si
FAU - Kozelj, Gordana
AU  - Kozelj G
FAU - Druzina, Branko
AU  - Druzina B
FAU - Stanovnik, Lovro
AU  - Stanovnik L
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20121217
PL  - England
TA  - Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess
JT  - Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & 
      risk assessment
JID - 101485040
RN  - 0 (Alkaloids)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Alkaloids/*analysis/*poisoning
MH  - Child
MH  - Child, Preschool
MH  - Datura stramonium/chemistry/*toxicity
MH  - Fagopyrum/chemistry/*poisoning
MH  - Flour/analysis
MH  - Food Contamination/*analysis
MH  - Foodborne Diseases/etiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level
MH  - Risk Assessment
MH  - Slovenia
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2012/12/19 06:00
MHDA- 2013/08/06 06:00
CRDT- 2012/12/19 06:00
PHST- 2012/12/19 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2012/12/19 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2013/08/06 06:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1080/19440049.2012.743189 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2013;30(2):321-30. 
      doi: 10.1080/19440049.2012.743189. Epub 2012 Dec 17.