Deoxynivalenol and fumonisin exposure in children and adults in a family study in rural Tanzania

The relationship between child and parent exposure and excretion of deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisin B1 (FB1), were compared in rural Tanzania. Morning urine samples from matched child-mother-father in 50 families of the Iringa district were collected and analysed for urinary DON and FB1 using LC-MS methods. Maize intake was obtained using a seven-day food frequency questionnaire and a duplicate diet method. The urinary DON geometric means were 15.4, 45.0 and 42.0 ng/ml in children, mothers and fathers, respectively, and the urinary FB1 were 0.62, 1.25 and 1.38 ng/ml, respectively. Children had significantly lower levels of urinary DON and FB1 than their parents (P96% of the children, respectively and were positively correlated between the child and the mother (P=0.007 and 0.02, respectively). DON or FB1 biomarkers were not correlated with maize intake. Children who were fully weaned had 3-fold higher urinary DON than those on partial breastfeeding (P=0.002). In adults, maize brew (a local produced beer) showed a strong positive correlation with both urinary DON and FB1 levels (P