Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Quantification of Fungal Colonization, Sporogenesis, and Production of Mycotoxins Using Kernel Bioassays
Published on: April 23, 2012
Aflatoxin M1 in breast-milk of UAE women
Yousef M Abdulrazzaq1, Nawal Osman, Zuhair M Yousif
1Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. yousef@uaeu.ac.ae
Abstract:
A study was undertaken to determine whether breast-milk of mothers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contained aflatoxins. One hundred and forty lactating mothers, 55 who had delivered premature infants (<2500 g, =37 wk gestational age) and 85 who had full-term infants, agreed to participate in the study. Breast-milk was collected during regular feeding of infants in the special care baby unit and postnatal wards using an electric breast pump and ten ml of milk was siphoned off into a zinc-free plastic container for analysis. Aflatoxin M(1) concentration in the breast-milk samples was measured by HPLC. Samples were collected between January 1999 and December 2000. Approximately 66% of the mothers were expatriates and 34% were UAE nationals. Babies' weight, postnatal age, sex, birthweight and gestational age, and mothers' nationality, age and parity were recorded. Overall, 92% of the breast-milk samples contained aflatoxin M(1). Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis failed to show significant correlation between aflatoxin M(1) and gestational age, postnatal age, gender, nationality and clinical condition. Levels of lactose, protein and lipids did not correlate significantly with levels of aflatoxin M(1). The public should be educated about storing food and the hazards of aflatoxin ingestion to reduce the unacceptably frequent presence of aflatoxin in breast-milk.
More Related Videos
09:44RNAi-mediated Control of Aflatoxins in Peanut: Method to Analyze Mycotoxin Production and Transgene Expression in the Peanut/Aspergillus Pathosystem
Published on: December 21, 2015
10:24Non-destructive SPE-UPLC-based Quantification of Aflatoxins and Stilbenoid Phytoalexins in Single Peanut (Arachis spp.) Seeds
Published on: April 19, 2024