Characterization and Lifetime Dietary Risk Assessment of Eighteen Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids and Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid N-Oxides in New Zealand Honey.

ABSTRACT: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a large group of botanical toxins of concern, as they are considered genotoxic carcinogens, with long-term dietary exposure presenting an elevated risk of liver cancer. PAs can contaminate honey through honeybees visiting the flowers of PA-containing plant species. A program of monitoring New Zealand honey has been undertaken over several years to build a comprehensive dataset on the concentration, regional and seasonal distribution, and botanical origin of 18 PAs and PA N-oxides. A bespoke probabilistic exposure model has then been used to assess the averaged lifetime dietary risk to honey consumers, with exposures at each percentile of the model characterized for risk using a margin of exposure from the Joint World Health Organization and United Nations

SUBMITTER: Pearson AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8704962 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature