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Monitoring and exposure assessment of nitrate intake via fruits and vegetables in high and low risk areas for gastric cancer

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Abstract

Background

Gastric cancer (GC) is the first leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Iran. GC is a multifactorial disease and is caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to assess the exposure and risk of nitrate intake through fruits and vegetables (F&V) in high-risk area (HRA) and low-risk area (LRA) of GC in Iran.

Methods

Twenty nine species of F&V were examined for nitrate by reverse-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) method. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data of 2000 adults participating in Persian cohort were applied to determine consumption patterns of F&V in those areas. A point-estimate daily intake was applied to compare two areas in terms of nitrate intake. Monte-Carlo simulation technique was applied to estimate chronic daily intake (CDI) of nitrate.

Results

The results showed that point-estimate daily intake of nitrate for subjects participated in the study was 2.02 ± 1.02 mg kg−1 day−1 in HRA and 1.98 ± 1.05 mg kg−1 day−1 in LRA. 6.53% of the participants in the HRA, and 5.9% of the participants in the LRA had an unacceptable point-estimate daily intake compared with an acceptable limit of 3.7 mg kg−1 day−1 established by FAO/WHO. CDI of nitrate in HRA was 1.94 ± 0.95 mg kg−1 day−1 and in the LRA was 1.93 ± 1.06 mg kg−1 day−1.

Conclusion

The results showed that there is no difference between HRA and LRA in terms of nitrate intake through F&V.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences [grant number: 96-03-46-36620]. The authors thank the officials of the Persian cohort in Ardabil and Kavar for providing the consumption data of F&V.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid Reza Ghaffari, Simin Nasseri, Masud Yunesian & Ramin Nabizadeh

  2. Center for Water Quality Research, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Simin Nasseri

  3. Center for Air Pollution Research and Department of Research Methodology and Data Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Masud Yunesian

  4. Center for Air Pollution Research (CAPR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ramin Nabizadeh

  5. Digestive Disease Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran

    Farhad Pourfarzi

  6. Digestive Oncology Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hossein Poustchi & Alireza Sadjadi

  7. No Way New Way Company, the Hauge, the Netherlands

    Alireza Sadjadi

  8. Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mohammad reza Fattahi & Ali Reza Safarpour

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  1. Hamid Reza Ghaffari
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Correspondence to Masud Yunesian.

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Ghaffari, H.R., Nasseri, S., Yunesian, M. et al. Monitoring and exposure assessment of nitrate intake via fruits and vegetables in high and low risk areas for gastric cancer. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 17, 445–456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-019-00363-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-019-00363-0

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