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Title: A CASE FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR AEROSOL EXPOSURE TO OCHRATOXIN

Author
item RICHARD, JOHN - ROMER LABS, UNION, MO
item SMILEY, GEORGE - ROMER LABS, UNION, MO
item Plattner, Ronald
item TISDELL, RONALD - TOXICOL CNSLTNT/TEMPLE,TX

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/2002
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Exposure of farm workers to aerosols of dust containing fungal propagules and possibly mycotoxins has been considered a possibility for some time. This association has been documented in a case of ochratoxin-contaminated wheat being handled by farm workers. Disease referable to ochratoxicosis was produced in rabbits exposed to aerosols of particulates generated from the contaminated wheat. Others have suspected the possibility of airborne exposure in ochratoxicosis in human populations in certain countries. We have examined dust collected from the heating ducts in a household where signs resembling ochratoxin poisoning occurred in the household pets. A composite sample of this dust yielded 58 ppb of ochratoxin A, when examined by HPLC. Additional individual samples were collected and examined by HPLC. All samples yielded at least a trace of ochratoxin A and two samples of dust collected from the heating ducts yielded over 1500 ppb and 306 ppb of ochratoxin A, respectively. Ochratoxin A was confirmed in all samples by LC-MS and ochratoxin was evident in the samples by TLC analysis. Subsequently, others have found ochratoxin A in airborne dust and fungal conidia collected from cowsheds in Norway and we are reporting here for the first time, the finding of ochratoxin A in dust collected by vacuum from carpeting in three additional houses in the United States. While it appears that dust likely contains significant numbers of fungal conidia from ochratoxin-producing fungi, dust is a potential source of ochratoxin exposure, especially through the airborne route.