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Mold deterioration of historical documents in archives and libraries is a frequent and complex phenomenon that may have important economic and cultural consequences. In addition, exposure to toxic fungal metabolites might produce health problems. In this work, samples of broths of fungal species isolated from the documentary material and from indoor environmental samples of the Archive of Bogotá have been analyzed to investigate the presence of mycotoxins. High resolution mass spectrometry made possible to search for a large number of mycotoxins, even without reference standards available at the laboratory. For this purpose, a screening strategy based on ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC–QTOF MS) under MS E mode was applied. A customized home-made database containing elemental composition for around 600 mycotoxins was compiled. The presence of the (de)protonated molecule measured at its accurate mass was evaluated in the samples. When a peak was detected, collision induced dissociation fragments and characteristic isotopic ions were also evaluated and used for tentative identification, based on structure compatibility and comparison with literature data (if existing). Up to 44 mycotoxins were tentatively identified by UHPLC–QTOF MS. 34 of these tentative compounds were confirmed by subsequent analysis using a targeted LC–MS/MS method, supporting the strong potential of QTOF MS for identification/elucidation purposes. The presence of mycotoxins in these samples might help to reinforce safety measures for researchers and staff who work on reception, restoration and conservation of archival material, not only at the Archive of Bogotá but worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food industry is plagued by mycotoxin contamination, and obtaining mycotoxin-free products has become a great challenge. With the advancement of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technology, new ideas for mycotoxin decontamination have emerged. The reactive species in plasma can act on the toxic structural groups through various reaction pathways, which are not yet completely clear. In this paper, we investigated the reaction mechanisms of six mycotoxins upon the impact of reactive oxygen species (ROS) employing reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulation. The degradation pathways of mycotoxins were revealed, and the reaction types of main toxic groups were summarized, including addition, oxidation, reduction, ring opening, side chain shedding, and even skeleton structure breaking. The degradation patterns of the double C=C bond and lactone ring were analyzed in detail. Besides the addition reaction, the double C=C bond can also be reduced by bond breaking or hydrogen atom abstraction reaction. The degradation processes of the lactone ring mainly include ring-opening reaction and reduction of lactone carbonyl group. The reaction processes can contribute to an improved understanding of the mechanisms of mycotoxins degradation by plasma and are also valuable for the degradation of other organic pollutants with the same structural groups. [Display omitted] • The degradation mechanisms of major mycotoxins induced by plasma ROS are revealed. • The degradation patterns of toxic structural groups are comprehensively analyzed. • The double C=C bond mainly undergoes the addition reaction or is reduced. • The lactone ring mainly undergoes ring opening and reduction of the carbonyl group. • Other common reactions include oxidation, side chain shedding, skeleton breaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]