Percorrer por autor "Pires, Sara"
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- Climate change and aflatoxins exposure in Portugal: could be expect a significant health risk?Publication . Assunção, Ricardo; Martins, Carla; Viegas, Susana; Viegas, Carla; Jakobsen, Lea S.; Pires, Sara; Alvito, PaulaIn recent decades, changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. Climate change has become one of the most critical issues for the sustainable development of human societies and the functioning of ecosystems on earth. Portugal in highly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to its Europe south-western geographical situation, mainly through decreasing annual precipitation, more intense extreme weather and climate events. In fact, climate change is considered as one of the biggest global threats to human health of the 21st century and its effects will undoubtedly influence agriculture systems and food safety. Due to the potential impact on the occurrence of food hazards, increased concern has being aroused. [...] Considering the impact of climate change in mycotoxin contamination of food products available in Portugal, the present study aims to discuss the potential influence of climate change in the health risk associated to aflatoxins dietary exposed of Portuguese population.
- Climate change and the health impact of aflatoxins exposure in Portugal: an overviewPublication . Assunção, Ricardo; Martins, Carla; Viegas, Susana; Viegas, Carla; Jakobsen, Lea S.; Pires, Sara; Alvito, PaulaClimate change has been indicated as a driver for food safety issues worldwide, mainly due to the impact on the occurrence of food safety hazards at various stages of the food chain. Mycotoxins, natural contaminants produced by fungi, are among the most important of such hazards. Aflatoxins, which have the highest acute and chronic toxicity of all mycotoxins, assume particular importance. A recent study predicted aflatoxin contamination in maize and wheat crops in Europe within the next 100 years and aflatoxin B1 is predicted to become a food safety issue in Europe, especially in the most probable scenario of climate change (+2 °C). This review discusses the potential influence of climate change on the health risk associated with aflatoxins dietary exposure of Portuguese population. We estimated the burden of disease associated with the current aflatoxin exposure for Portuguese population in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). It is expected that in the future the number of DALYs and the associated cases of hepatocellular carcinoma due to aflatoxins exposure will increase due to climate change. The topics highlighted through this review, including the potential impact on the health of the Portuguese population through the dietary exposure to aflatoxins, should represent an alert for the potential consequences of an incompletely explored perspective of climate change. Politics and decision-makers should be involved and committed to implementing effective measures to deal with climate change issues and to reduce its possible consequences. This review constitutes a contribution to the prioritization of strategies to face the unequal burden of effects of weather-related hazards in Portugal and across Europe.