Chemical toxins in food

1. CHEMICAL TOXINS
JASPREET KAUR
12009715
PHD. FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2. Chemical foodborne intoxications involve
the following:
 a. pesticides,
 b. heavy metals,
 c. antibiotics and hormones,
 d. radio nuclides,
 e. preservatives,
 f. adulteration through hazardous chemicals.

3. Pesticides
 Pesticides, the chemical substances, used to kill pests, insects, and microbes that
grow inside the crops and cause serious damages. Different types of pesticides are
being used and their use for many years have left an appreciable amount in the
soil, which finds their way through the crops into human diets.
 Most of the pesticides are toxic and banned. The widely used pesticides are
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), Alpha BHC (benzene hexachloride),
gamma HCH (Lindane), malathion, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), etc.

4. DDT
 The DDT is a persistent organic pollutant which is usually
used for killing mosquitoes. It is found in many foods at the
proportions that are far exceeding safety threshold and
adsorbed to soils and sediments and can act as long-term
sources of exposure affecting organisms.
 It is an endocrine disruptor and considered as human
carcinogen.

5. BHC (Benzene Hexachloride)
 The BHC, referred to as hexachloro-benzene or hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), is a
fungicide formerly used as a seed treatment, especially on wheat to control the
fungal disease bunt.
 Chronic oral exposure in humans causes liver damage, ulceration, skin
discoloration, photosensitivity, thyroid effects, and loss of hair. It may cause
embryolethal and teratogenic effects.
 It can cross the placenta to accumulate in fetal tissues and is transferred to in
breast milk

6. Polychlorinated biphenyl
 A chlorine compound classified as a persistent organic pollutant and was banned by
US Congress in 1979 and Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants in
2001, which is generally used as dielectric and coolant fluids in electrical apparatus.
 People are exposed to PCBs through food, by breathing contaminated air, and least
by skin contact. Once it enters into the body, it may remain inside up to 10–15 years if
it not excreted through feces.

7. Heavy Metals
 Poisoning due to the accumulation of heavy metals in toxic amounts in the soft
tissues of the body can be termed as metal toxicity.
 Many of the heavy metals such as zinc, copper, chromium, iron, and manganese are
essential for proper body function in a very small amount.
 But, sometimes it may exceed the normal level due to industrial exposure, air and
water pollutions, intake of metal-contaminated foods, improperly coated food
containers, and the ingestion of lead-based paints which may cause serious damages
to the body.

13. Additives and Preservatives
 Preservatives are the substances or chemicals widely used in food products as
well as in pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics, and biological samples to prevent
microbial decompositions and adverse chemical changes.

17. Radio Nuclides
 People are exposed daily to a wide range of naturally occurring radioisotopes of
chemical elements that is unavoidable and considered to be one of the inherent
risks in life.
 Radiological hazards include strontium-90, iodine-131, cesium-137, and various
isotopes of plutonium. Consumers’ concern for radionuclides derived from nuclear
testing has created a climate of fear of an all-out nuclear war.
 The long-term adverse health effects associated with radionuclides include genetic
mutations, teratogenic effects, and cancer.