Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology : RTP
-
Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. · Apr 2008
ReviewCould charcoal filtration of cigarette smoke reduce smoking-induced disease? A review of the literature.
A review of the published work with charcoal-filtered cigarettes indicates that there are reductions in the concentrations for many gas-vapor phase constituents found in mainstream smoke. However, charcoal filters provided no apparent capacity for reduction of smoke particulate phase components. The reductions in gas-vapor phase smoke chemistry analytes generally correspond with findings of reduced toxicological activity, principally related to a reduction in the cytotoxic action of the volatile smoke constituents. ⋯ There do not appear to be any published studies using a combination of data from the different disciplines based on a consistently designed charcoal cigarette filter. Although the literature presently available would suggest that smoke filtration provided by current charcoal filter techniques alone may not be substantial enough to reduce smoking-related disease, the data are limited. Therefore, for the reduction of smoking-induced disease, it is difficult to come to a definitive conclusion regarding the potential health benefits of using charcoal as a smoke filtration technology.
-
“Cyclodextrin is frequently used in foods and cosmetics because it can change the physical properties of various compounds by their encapsulation within the cyclic structure. The average person is thought to ingest about 4 g of gamma-cyclodextrin per day from food. ... even people who have never received sugammadex may be sensitised by food and cosmetics.” (Mertes 2019)
-
Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. · Oct 1999
Review Comparative StudyThe significance of excursions above the ADI. Case study: monosodium glutamate.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been allocated an "ADI not specified" by the JECFA, which indicates that no toxicological concerns arise associated with its use as a food additive in accordance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) and for that reason it is not necessary to allocate a numerical ADI. The question in this case, then, is not whether excursions above a numerical ADI might occur but whether high peak intakes might arise which could invalidate the assumption of absence of hazard. Two major issues have arisen in relation to high intakes of MSG: (1) What is the significance of neural damage (focal necrosis in the hypothalamus) seen following high parenteral or intragastric doses of MSG to neonatal animals and is this a particular risk for children? (2) What is the role of MSG in "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" (flushing, tightness of the chest, difficulty in breathing, etc.) following consumption of Chinese foods? In relation to the first issue, human studies have been crucial in resolving the question. ⋯ With regard to the second issue, controlled double-blind crossover studies have failed to establish a relationship between Chinese Restaurant Syndrome and ingestion of MSG, even in individuals reportedly sensitive to Chinese meals, and MSG did not provoke bronchoconstriction in asthmatics. Thus, high usage of MSG in ethnic cuisines does not represent a situation in which intakes might achieve unsafe levels, even among individuals claiming idiosyncratic intolerance of such foods. In the light of the toxicological studies, the human metabolic studies in neonates and adults, and the physiological and nutritional role of glutamic acid and the fact that food additive use does not markedly increase the total dietary burden, no foreseeable circumstances arise in which intakes would be such as to invalidate the appropriateness of allocating an ADI not specified to MSG.
-
Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. · Aug 1998
Review Comparative StudyA qualitative and quantitative risk assessment of snuff dipping.
The presence of highly carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) in snuff has been a matter of serious concern. However, the levels of TSNA in such products may differ by orders of magnitude depending on origin and manner of processing, and the mere presence of such agents at low levels does hardly constitute a meaningful prerequisite for classifying all types of snuff as human carcinogens. Reviewing available epidemiological evidence, a wide discrepancy is found for estimated cancer risk associated with snuff dipping derived from on one hand previous investigations conducted in the United States and on the other from recent extensive Swedish epidemiological studies. ⋯ Bioassays using pure TSNA in rodents appear to give exaggerated risk estimates for humans, a discrepancy that could be ascribed to species-related differences in the relation between exposure and DNA target dose and/or adduct repair rates, as well as to the presence of anticarcinogens in snuff. Although a small risk cannot be excluded, the use of smokeless tobacco products low in TSNA which now are available on the market entails a risk that at any rate is more than 10 times lower than that associated with active smoking. Nevertheless, due to the decisive role of potent TSNA in determining possible cancer risks in users of smokeless tobacco, and due to the fact that large variations in the concentrations may occur, adequate control measures should be taken to keep the levels of these nitrosamines in smokeless tobacco products as low as is technically feasible.
-
Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. · Oct 1997
Review Comparative StudyHealth risk assessment of drinking water contaminants in Canada: the applicability of mixture risk assessment methods.
The objectives of this article are: (i) to review the current approaches of Health Canada to the risk assessment of drinking water contaminants, and (ii) to examine the applicability of mixture risk assessment methods to drinking water contaminants. Health Canada's current approaches to drinking water risk assessment, like those of many regulatory agencies, focus almost solely on the effects of individual chemicals. As such, no formal method is currently used for developing mixtures guidelines or for modifying guidelines of individual chemicals to account for the possibility of the occurrence of interactions (supraadditive or infraadditive). ⋯ Specifically, among the components-based approaches, dose-addition, response-addition, and the toxic equivalency factor approaches are the most applicable ones for drinking water contaminants. Until an interactions-based, mechanistic risk assessment approach (e.g., physiological model-based approach) becomes available for routine use, the components-based approaches remain the default methods for consideration. Progress in the development and validation of an interactions-based risk assessment methodology should facilitate a more realistic assessment of risk due to drinking water contaminants without increasing the levels of uncertainty in risk estimates above those associated with existing single-chemical methods.