Abstract

A total of 635 raw milk samples from 45 dairy farms, from three regions of SAo Paulo state - Brazil, were evaluated during 15 months for aflatoxin M-1 (AFM(1)). AFM(1) was determined by high performance liquid chromatograph with fluorescence detection. AFM(1) was detected (>0.003 mu gkg(-1)) in 72.9%, 56.3% and 27.5% of the samples from Bauru, Aracatuba and Vale do Paraiba regions, respectively. The mean AFM(1) contamination considering all the samples was 0.021 mu gkg(-1). Furthermore, the concentration of AFM(1) was quite different among Bauru (0.038 mu gkg(-1)), Aracatuba (0.017 mu gkg(-1)) and Vale do Paraiba (0.01 mu gkg(-1)) regions. Only three samples (0.5%) had higher contamination than the tolerated limit in Brazil (0.50 mu gkg(-1)) and 64 samples (10.1%) had a higher contamination than the maximum limit as set by the European Union (0.050 mu gkg(-1)). The estimated AFM(1) daily intake was 0.358 and 0.120 ng kg(-1) body weight per day for children and adults, respectively.