Aflatoxin B1 is an aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. It is a very potent carcinogen with a TD50 3.2 μg/kg/day in rats.[4] This carcinogenic potency varies across species with some, such as rats and monkeys, seemingly much more susceptible than others.[5][6] Aflatoxin B1 is a common contaminant in a variety of foods including peanuts, cottonseed meal, corn, and other grains;[7] as well as animal feeds.[8] Aflatoxin B1 is considered the most toxic aflatoxin and it is highly implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in humans.[9] In animals, aflatoxin B1 has also been shown to be mutagenic,[10]teratogenic,[11] and to cause immunosuppression.[12] Several sampling and analytical methods including thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), among others, have been used to test for aflatoxin B1 contamination in foods.[13] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a division of the United Nations, the worldwide maximum tolerated levels of aflatoxin B1 was reported to be in the range of 1–20 μg/kg (or .001 ppm - 1 part-per-billion) in food, and 5–50 μg/kg (.005 ppm) in dietary cattle feed in 2003.[14]
^van Soest TC, Peerdeman AF (1970). "The crystal structures of aflatoxin B1. I. The structure of the chloroform solvate of aflatoxin B1 and the absolute configuration of aflatoxin B1". Acta Crystallogr. B. 26 (12): 1940–1947. doi:10.1107/S0567740870005228.
^"Aflatoxin B1". PubChem. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Galvano F, Ritieni A, Piva G, Pietri A (2005). "Mycotoxins in the human food chain.". In Diaz DE (ed.). The Mycotoxin Blue Book. Nottingham, UK: Nottingham University Press. pp. 187–224.
^Geissler F, Faustman EM (February 1988). "Developmental toxicity of aflatoxin B1 in the rodent embryo in vitro: contribution of exogenous biotransformation systems to toxicity". Teratology. 37 (2): 101–111. doi:10.1002/tera.1420370203. PMID3127910.
^Meissonnier GM, Pinton P, Laffitte J, Cossalter AM, Gong YY, Wild CP, et al. (September 2008). "Immunotoxicity of aflatoxin B1: impairment of the cell-mediated response to vaccine antigen and modulation of cytokine expression". Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 231 (2): 142–149. doi:10.1016/j.taap.2008.04.004. PMID18501398.