New and improved methods for risk assessment of food and pharmaceutical products safety and for forensic analysis

食品和药品安全风险评估以及法医分析的新方法和改进方法

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-04250
• 负责人: Beauchemin, Diane
• 金额: $ 5.25万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=747773
• 关键词: New; improved; methods; risk; assessment

To measure the concentration of potentially harmful elements such as lead and arsenic in solid food and pharmaceutical products, government agencies first dissolve them, which involves multiple steps. This not only takes time and requires harsh chemicals but also increases the likelihood of contamination (false positive) or may result in the loss of some of the elements (false negative). In addition, this approach does not provide any information on the chemical form of each element, which determines toxicity. Most critically, it also does not provide any information on bio-accessibility, i.e. solubility in the gastrointestinal tract. Yet, a poison is only a safety concern if it enters the blood stream, where it may exert its toxic effect. The proposed research program will involve the development of simple analysis methods that quickly determine the level of each element present in a solid. If the level of an element poses a potential danger to human health, another relatively fast analysis method will then be used to measure the fraction that is bio-accessible. Finally, if the bio-accessible fraction contains different chemical forms of the elements, another method will be used to distinguish and quantify the toxic and less toxic forms to truly assess the risk. Rapid and cost-effective acquisition of information on both element forms and bio-accessible concentrations in foods and pharmaceutical products will enable toxicological studies to establish if a synergistic or antagonistic effect exists between different elements. This will empower Canadian authorities to regulate the levels of elements (and perhaps even specific element forms) in food and pharmaceutical products at safe levels, thereby reducing their immuno-toxicological effects. In a related project, the effect of washing or soaking food, which is known to remove some toxic arsenic from rice, will be tested on other grains to find out when it can make them safer for consumption. The effect of cooking, including the manner in which food is cooked (such as boiling, toasting, pressure cooking, etc.) on the bio-accessible fraction and the chemical forms present in staple food (rice, wheat, corn, bread, etc.) will be studied to establish if cooking has a beneficial effect. In a third related project, a quick analysis technique will be optimized for the discrimination of various forensic samples (head hair, automotive paint fragments left in hit-and-run cases, finger nails, etc.), thereby adding a new tool to the arsenal of police agencies to help them solve crimes. Law enforcement agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, will be able to implement the methods developed easily and cost-effectively. At least 9 graduate and 25 undergraduate students will participate in different aspects of this research, which will be carried out using modern instruments and protocols in an attempt to guarantee the safety and security of Canadians.

为了衡量固体食品和药品中潜在有害因素（例如铅和砷）的浓度，政府机构首先将其解散，这涉及多个步骤。这不仅需要时间，需要苛刻的化学物质，而且还增加了污染的可能性（假阳性），或者可能导致某些元素的丧失（假阴性）。此外，这种方法没有提供有关每种元素的化学形式的任何信息，这些信息决定了毒性。最关键的是，它还没有提供有关生物访问性的任何信息，即胃肠道中的溶解度。然而，当毒药进入血液时，毒药可能会发挥其毒性作用。拟议的研究计划将涉及简单分析方法的开发，这些方法迅速确定固体中每个元素的水平。如果元素的水平对人类健康构成潜在的危险，则将使用另一种相对快速的分析方法来测量可访问的分数。最后，如果可访问的分数包含元素的不同化学形式，则将使用另一种方法来区分和量化有毒和毒性较小的形式，以真正评估风险。在食品和药品中，有关元素形式和可访问浓度的信息的快速且具有成本效益的获取将使毒理学研究能够确定不同元素之间是否存在协同或拮抗作用。这将使加拿大当局能够以安全水平的食品和药品中调节食品和药品中的元素（甚至特定元素形式）的水平，从而降低其免疫吸毒作用。在一个相关的项目中，将在其他谷物上测试清洗或浸泡食物的作用，该效果已知可以从大米中去除某些有毒的砷，以找出何时可以使它们更安全。将研究烹饪的影响，包括对生物接近分数的烹饪方式（例如煮沸，烤，压力烹饪等）以及主食食物（大米，小麦，玉米，面包等）中存在的化学形式，以确定是否有有益的效果。在第三个相关项目中，将对各种法医样品的歧视（头发，汽车涂料碎片，手指指甲等）进行优化，从而为警察机构的阿森纳机构添加了新工具，以帮助他们解决犯罪。包括加拿大皇家骑警在内的执法机构将能够轻松地实施这些方法。至少有9名毕业生和25名本科生将参与这项研究的不同方面，这些方面将使用现代工具和协议进行，以确保加拿大人的安全和保障。