Prevalence of Ochratoxin A in Human Milk in the Khorrambid Town, Fars Province, South of Iran

BACKGROUND: Ochratoxins belong to a group of mycotoxins produced as the secondary metabolites by filamentous fungi, such as Aspergillus and Penicillium. These toxins may be teratogenic, mutagenic, hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, and may have immunosuppressive effects and pose a serious health problems to exposed humans and animals. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to determine the level of ochratoxin A (OTA) in the samples of mothers' milk in the Khorrambid Town, Fars Province, south of Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June and July 2011, samples of human milk were obtained from 87 mothers. The samples were diluted by absolute methanol at 1:4 ratio and after centrifugation, the supernatant was directly used to determine the level of OTA using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Among 87 human milk samples, 84 (96.6%) samples had positive results for OTA at a mean level of 24.57 ± 13.6 ng/L. According to the European Union Standard, 14 (16%) positive samples revealed more than the maximum limit of 40 ng/L for ochratoxin (range, 1.6-60 ng/L). CONCLUSIONS: Presence of OTA in the milk of mothers denotes a probable consumption of a contaminated foods. Therefore, regular monitoring of foods for presence of mycotoxins for lactating mothers seems necessary.