Mercury Exposure Assessment from the First Harmonised Total Diet Study in Portugal Elsa Vasco, M. Graça Dias, Luísa Oliveira Exposure and Health, 2025 The aim of this study was to estimate the Portuguese population’s baseline exposure to methyl and inorganic mercury by a harmonised total diet study (TDS) methodology and the risk of exceeding the Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI). TDS food samples representative of the whole diet of the population were prepared as consumed, and analysed for total mercury. European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) conservative approach was used to estimate methylmercury and inorganic mercury and exposure was estimated using Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) software. Mean, median and P95 exposure of the overall population (18 to 74 years old) to methylmercury and to inorganic mercury were 1.25, 0.01 and 5.45 µg/kg bw/week, and 0.37, 0.15 and 1.27 µg/kg bw/week, respectively. The percentage of individuals exceeding TWI was 27.6 for methylmercury and 3.5 for inorganic mercury. Regarding childbearing age women (18 to 45 years old), methylmercury mean exposure was 1.13 µg/kg bw/week with 25% of women exceeding the TWI. Cod and hake were the main contributors to mercury intake.
Current Advances, Research Needs and Gaps in Mycotoxins Biomonitoring under the HBM4EU—Lessons Learned and Future Trends Paula Alvito, Ricardo Manuel Assunção, Lola Bajard, Carla Martins, Marcel J. B. Mengelers, et al. Toxins, 2022 Mycotoxins are natural metabolites produced by fungi that contaminate food and feed worldwide. They can pose a threat to human and animal health, mainly causing chronic effects, e.g., immunotoxic and carcinogenic. Due to climate change, an increase in European population exposure to mycotoxins is expected to occur, raising public health concerns. This urges us to assess the current human exposure to mycotoxins in Europe to allow monitoring exposure and prevent future health impacts. The mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) were considered as priority substances to be studied within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) to generate knowledge on internal exposure and their potential health impacts. Several policy questions were addressed concerning hazard characterization, exposure and risk assessment. The present article presents the current advances attained under the HBM4EU, research needs and gaps. Overall, the knowledge on the European population risk from exposure to DON was improved by using new harmonised data and a newly derived reference value. In addition, mechanistic information on FB1 was, for the first time, organized into an adverse outcome pathway for a congenital anomaly. It is expected that this knowledge will support policy making and contribute to driving new Human Biomonitoring (HBM) studies on mycotoxin exposure in Europe.
