Dietary aflatoxins and human liver cancer. III. Field survey of rural Thai families for ingested aflatoxins

Abstract

Aflatoxin consumption through cooked foods was determined by three 2-day surveys over a period of 1 yr for 144 randomly selected households in nine villages within three areas of Thailand. The Singburi and Ratburi areas had the highest levels of aflatoxin ingestion, with respective annual means ranging from 73 to 81 and from 45 to 77 ng total aflatoxins/kg body weight/day on a family basis. Intakes as high as 1072 ng total aflatoxins/kg body weight/day were recorded for individuals. Average annual aflatoxin consumption in Songkhla was 10-14 times less than in Singburi. The Singburi dietary load of aflatoxin represents 20-30% of intake values that induce a liver-tumour incidence of nearly 100% in rats following continuous exposure. © 1972 Pergamon Press Limited.