Toxicogenic fungi and mycotoxins seasonality in poultry farms: implications for animal health and food safety

Poultry farms are hostpost for fungi and mycotoxins proliferation. Still, seasonal dynamics of these hazards on the farm and their impacts on animals/workers' health, and lastly on food safety, remain unexplored. This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of seasonal (summer/winter) fungal/mycotoxin exposure in poultry farm environments (Electrostatic dust cloths (EDC), feed, bed) and broiler chicken tissues (breast, liver) to identify potential exposure risks for broiler chickens/workers' health and food safety. Viable mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins profile (LC-MS/MS) was characterized, and cytotoxicity assessment was performed using A549 (human alveolar epithelial) and SK (swine kidney) cells. Zootechnical parameters were also measured to evaluate broiler chickens’ growth performance. Summer conditions favour the proliferation of mycotoxigenic fungi belonging to the Penicillium and Aspergillus genera, where co-contamination of hazardous mycotoxins (ZEN/TRCs/FBs) was prevalent. Considering cytotoxicity assessment, EDC samples induced high toxicity in 47 % of A549 cells during summer, whereas on bed samples, high toxicity was obtained during winter on both cell lines (100 % SK cells; 83 % A549 cells). Our results evidence diverse exposure pathways (inhalation, dermal contact) and seasonal health risks. Regarding mycotoxins in biological samples, ZEN was detected in 53.3 % of liver samples, highlighting chronic exposure risks. Thus, future research should focus on toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics of co-occurring mycotoxins in animal production environments and their subsequent human exposure through the food chain. Given that climate change may exacerbate seasonal fungal/mycotoxin contamination, understanding these interactions is crucial for improving risk assessment frameworks and implementing protection measures on the farm level and along the food chain.

Description

This work is supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. by the project UI/BD/153746/2022 and CE3C unit UIDB/00329/2020. It is also supported by FCT/MCTES UIDP/05608/2020 and UIDB/05608/2020; UI/BD/151431/2021, and also by Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon projects IPL/IDI&CA2024/WWTPSValor_ESTeSL and IPL/IDI&CA2024/MycoSOS_ESTeSL.

Keywords

Poultry production Toxicogenic fungi Mycotoxins Growth performance Food safety FCT_UIDP/05608/2020 FCT_UIDB/05608/2020 IPL/IDI&CA2024/WWTPSValor_ESTeSL IPL/IDI&CA2024/MycoSOS_ESTeSL

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/22328

Citation

Gomes B, Dias M, Cervantes R, Pena P, Carolino E, Viegas S, Viegas C, et al. Toxicogenic fungi and mycotoxins seasonality in poultry farms: implications for animal health and food safety. J Agric Food Res. 2025;24:102399.