Aflatoxin M 1 in raw milk from different regions of São Paulo state – Brazil.

A total of 635 raw milk samples from 45 dairy farms, from three regions of São Paulo state – Brazil, were evaluated during 15 months for aflatoxin M1(AFM1). AFM1was determined by high performance liquid chromatograph with fluorescence detection. AFM1was detected (>0.003 µg kg−1) in 72.9%, 56.3% and 27.5% of the samples from Bauru, Araçatuba and Vale do Paraíba regions, respectively. The mean AFM1contamination considering all the samples was 0.021 µg kg−1. Furthermore, the concentration of AFM1was quite different among Bauru (0.038 µg kg−1), Araçatuba (0.017 µg kg−1) and Vale do Paraíba (<0.01 µg kg−1) regions. Only three samples (0.5%) had higher contamination than the tolerated limit in Brazil (0.50 µg kg−1) and 64 samples (10.1%) had a higher contamination than the maximum limit as set by the European Union (0.050 µg kg−1). The estimated AFM1daily intake was 0.358 and 0.120 ng kg−1body weight per day for children and adults, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]