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AIM: To determine the presence and concentration of ochratoxin A in wheat and corn from Slavonski Brod surroundings, the area of endemic nephropathy allegedly caused by ochratoxin. METHODS: Thin-layer chromatography was used to determine ochratoxin A concentrations in 92 wheat and 51 corn samples from the surroundings of Slavonski Brod, Osijek, Hrvatsko Zagorje, Istria, and Celje (Slovenia). RESULTS: Ochratoxin A was present in 74 of 92 (75.8%) wheat samples and 17 of 51 (33.3%) corn samples, in a concentration range of 0.02-160.00 mg/kg in wheat and 0.02-40.00 mg/kg in corn. Wheat samples from the Slavonski Brod surroundings contained the highest level of ochratoxin A (38.8 +/- 27.2 mg/kg), followed by Osijek (8.7 +/- 8.3 mg/kg). Ochratoxin A levels in the wheat from Hrvatsko Zagorje, Istria, and Celje were considerably lower (2.1 +/- 1.5, 1.3 +/- 2.6 and 0.2 +/- 0.5 mg/kg, respectively). Wheat samples from Slavonski Brod significantly differed from all other sample groups (p < 0.001), and wheat samples from Osijek differed from those from Hrvatsko Zagorje, Istria, and Celje (p < 0.001, p = 0.003, p < 0.001, respectively). Ochratoxin A level was the highest in the corn samples from the Slavonski Brod surroundings (20.0 +/- 14.8 mg/kg) and considerably lower in samples from Osijek, Celje, Hrvatsko Zagorje, and Istria (0.8 +/- 1.4, 0.7 +/- 1.9, 0.4 +/- 0.4, and 0.4 +/- 0.8 mg/kg, respectively). A statistically significant difference was also observed between the Slavonski Brod samples and all other corn samples (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Irrespective of the real association between ochratoxin A and endemic nephropathy, our data clearly demonstrate their geographical overlap.

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The aspiration of the countries in transition to join the developed European countries resulted in opening their borders and several-fold increase in import, especially of food products. The imported foods are less expensive than domestic foods, but their quality is often highly questionable. In analyzing the safety of these products for human health, small countries encounter at least two sets of problems. One is related to legal provisions on the parameters to be analyzed, whenever new requirements emerge in practice, like the latest one on dioxin. The other, even more difficult set of problems, is related to the expensive equipment needed for the monitoring of foodstuff safety, the procurement of which exceeds the financial possibilities of these countries. For example, from June 11 until July 31, 1999, during the so-called European dioxin crisis, a total of 58 foodstuffs produced in Belgium, Netherlands, and France between January 19 and March 3, 1999, were referred to the Department of Health Ecology, Zagreb Institute of Public Health, the only laboratory authorized for identification of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans in the Republic of Croatia. In 40 samples, the level of dioxin was below the detection limit of 0.5 ng - international toxic equivalents per kg fat (ng-I-TEQ/kg fat), whereas in 18 positive samples the level of dioxin did not exceed the limit of 5 ng-I-TEQ/kg fat for the foodstuff commercial usability. Although highly contaminated products have not yet appeared on the Croatian market, recent developments in Europe have pointed out that establishing an authorized laboratory for dioxins in the Republic of Croatia or in the region is needed.

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AIM: To compare the total and organic mercury content in sea-fish samples from Croatia, where fishing occurs in a closed part of the Mediterranean Sea, and from other countries fishing mostly in the oceans. METHOD: During 1997, we collected at the Zagreb fish market a total of 115 samples of fifteen kinds of fish including bathypelagic, pelagic and elasmobranch fish, caught in the wider coastal areas of Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Belgium, and Croatia. Total mercury and organic methyl-mercury in the fish were determined at the laboratory for testing of food and other common use material at the Zagreb Institute of Public Health. Total mercury was determined by the method of atomic absorption spectrometry. Methyl-mercury was determined by the method of gas chromatography. The mean annual fish consumption in each country was used to calculate the mean weekly intake of mercury and methyl-mercury in each individual country relative to the recommended values. RESULTS: The mean content of total mercury and organic mercury in pooled samples was 111+100 ug/kg and 95+87 ug/kg (85.6%), respectively. The highest values were found in the fish from Croatia (170+124 ug/kg and 150+107 ug/kg; 88.2%, respectively). This concentration did not exceed the maximal allowed level of 500 ug/kg for total and 400 ug/kg for organic mercury in any of the samples examined. The highest values of total mercury (119+111 ug/kg) and organic mercury (103+96 ug/kg; 86.6%) were found in bathypelagic fish. According to the mean annual per capita fish consumption in each country, the mean weekly mercury intake was highest in Spain (49.8 ug) and lowest in Croatia (19.0 ug. CONCLUSION: At present conditions of mercury content and its mean annual consumption, dietary use of sea-fish can still be recommended, even from the seas with closed circulation, such as Adriatic.

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Organochlorine residues were determined in human milk samples from an agricultural area of Slavonia, Yugoslavia. Concentrations of pentachlorobenzene, hexachlorobenzene, alpha-, beta-, gamma-isomers of benzene hexachloride, heptachlor, aldrin, DDE, TDE, and DDT were determined by gas chromatography (GC). Confirmation was carried out by computerized GC-mass spectrometry. The most abundant contaminant was p,p'-DDE (range, 42.0-418.5 microgram/kg (ppb)).

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