Iodine check results in edible salt in Suzhou in 2017-2021 / 公共卫生与预防医学

Objective To understand the quality status of salt iodine monitoring results at the county level and checking results at the city level from 2017 to 2021 in Suzhou，and to provide a scientific basis for the development of iodine deficiency disease（IDD）prevention and control strategies and measures.  Methods During the past five years, Suzhou CDC randomly selected 15 samples of 300 monitored salt samples from each county/district CDC each year for spot checks. The data were processed by comparative analysis of relative error and grouped data t test.  Results In the conformity of iodized salt and non-iodized salt, the sample monitoring results of some counties/districts were non-iodized salt, while the city-level test results were iodized salt. In the conformity of iodized salt and seaweed iodized salt (or enhanced salt), the sample monitoring results of county/district level were iodized salt, while the test results at the city level were seaweed iodized salt (or enhanced salt). The non-conformity was relatively concentrated in some county/district laboratories, and the total amount of non-conformity tended to increase year by year. The total number of samples with relative error of >20% between the county/district and city-level results was the least in 2021, with 6, and the most in 2018, with 25. The number of samples with relative error of >30% between the county/district and city-level results was the least in 2017 being 0, while there were 12 samples in 2018, fluctuating within a small range in the past three years. The t-test results of grouped data showed that the average value of the checking results at the city level was generally higher than the monitoring results at the county level. There were 21 pairs of data with no statistical significance (P>0.05) and 29 pairs of data with statistical significance (P<0.05) between the results at the county/district level and at the city level. Among them, there were 7 counties/districts whose sample monitoring results were not significantly different from the city-level test results in 2020, while there were 9 counties/districts whose monitoring results were statistically different from the city-level test results in 2021.  Conclusion  The data analysis results show that the monitoring data of iodized salt in Suzhou is basically reliable and accurate, but there still exist some problems. Therefore, in the future work it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring system of IDD, increase training efforts, continuously monitor and check the quality of iodized salt to provide a scientific basis for effective prevention and control of IDD.

Analysis of monitoring results of water source high iodine areas in Hebei Province in 2018 / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective:To dynamically investigate the iodine nutritional status of residents in water source high iodine areas in Hebei Province, so as to provide basis for taking targeted prevention and control measures and accurate intervention strategies.Methods:According to the "National Monitoring Program for Water Source High Iodine Areas (2018 Edition)", water source high iodine monitoring was carried out in 5 cities and 35 counties (cities, districts, hereinafter referred to as counties) of Hebei Province. According to the survey results of drinking water iodine of residents of Hebei Province in 2017, the administrative villages with a median water iodine above 100 μg/L were sorted according to the water iodine value. The systematic sampling method was adopted. Five administrative villages were selected in each county, if there were less than 5 administrative villages, all of them were selected (if the median water iodine was > 300 μg/L, at least one village shall be selected). The iodine content in drinking water of residents among the monitoring sites, salt iodine, urinary iodine and thyroid volume of children aged 8 - 10, as well as salt iodine and urinary iodine of pregnant women were tested. Water iodine was detected by the "Method Suitable for the Detection of Water Iodine in Iodine Deficient and High Iodine Areas" recommended by the National Iodine Deficiency Reference Laboratory of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Salt iodine was detected by semi quantitative method. Urinary iodine was detected by "Arsenic Cerium Catalytic Spectrophotometry Method" (WS/T 107-2006). Children's thyroid volume was detected by B-ultrasound.Results:A total of 239 water samples were collected in 167 villages, 35 counties, the median water iodine was 163.95 μg/L, ranging from 5.53 - 930.82 μg/L. A total of 6 772 edible salt samples were monitored, including 3 495 non-iodine salt samples and the rate of non-iodine salt was 51.61% (3 495/6 772). A total of 6 101 urine samples of children were tested, the median urinary iodine was 328.00 μg/L. A total of 6 103 children aged 8 - 10 were carried out B-ultrasound detection of thyroid volume in 35 counties. The goiter rate of children was 5.01% (306/6 103), and the rate of nodules was 0.56% (34/6 103). A total of 713 urine samples of pregnant women were tested, and the median urinary iodine was 221.70 μg/L.Conclusions:The iodine nutrition of children in water source high iodine areas of Hebei Province is at an excess level, and the iodine nutrition of pregnant women is at an appropriate level. In addition to stopping the supply of iodized salt, we should further expand the coverage of water improvement and iodine reduction projects in high iodine areas, and strengthen the monitoring of iodine nutrition status of key populations.

Microplastic contamination in edible sea salt from the largest salt-producing states of India.

The presence of microplastics in all ecological and environmental conditions has been identified as a global problem. This article aimed to study edible salt-associated microplastics from the major salt-producing states of India. The crystal and powder salt from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat (five samples of powder salt and three samples of crystal salt from each state) were collected and analyzed for their microplastic content. The total microplastic content in the salts ranged from 46 to 115 particles per 200 g in Gujarat salt and 23 to 101 particles per 200 g in Tamil Nadu salt. The microplastics are dominated by red and blue color fibrous-shaped materials. The most common microplastics identified in the edible salts were polyethylene, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride derived from marine and salt-processing units.

Identification, formation and control of polar brominated disinfection byproducts during cooking with edible salt, organic matter and simulated tap water.

Edible salt is essential to the health of humans and serves as a seasoning universally. Besides chloride, edible salt also contains other anions such as bromide, fluoride, sulfate, and carbonate due to incomplete removal during raw salt refinement. In a household cooking (e.g., soup making) process, a chlorine/monochloramine residual in tap water could react with bromide in edible salt and organic matter in food (e.g., rice, wheat) to form numerous brominated disinfection byproducts (Br-DBPs) at significant levels, which might induce adverse health effects to human beings. In this study, we solicited 20 edible salts of different types (i.e., sea salts, well and rock salts, lake salts, and bamboo salts) from nine countries and determined their bromide levels to be 67-375 mg/kg, with an average level of 173 mg/kg. A total of 25 polar Br-DBPs were detected and identified with structures/formulae in cooking water samples using ultra performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-triple quadruple mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-tqMS) and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Effects of cooking conditions (e.g., disinfectant type and level, edible salt dose, organic matter type and dose, sequence and time interval of adding organic matter and salt, etc.) on the formation of polar Br-DBPs were investigated, and optimized cooking conditions with minimized formation of polar Br-DBPs were determined. Further aided with an Hep G2 cell cytotoxicity assay, it was found that the overall cytotoxicity of chlorinated and chloraminated cooking water samples prepared after cooking condition optimization was reduced by 57% and 22%, respectively, compared with those prepared before cooking condition optimization.

Determination of iodate in iodized edible salt based on a headspace gas chromatographic technique.

This paper introduces a convenient approach for determining iodate in iodized salt by headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). The analytical technique can measure the generated carbon dioxide from the redox reaction between iodate and sodium oxalate in the presence of strong acid. The formed carbon dioxide from this reaction in a closed vial is measured by GC. It was observed that the redox reaction in the vial was completed in 40 min at 95 °C. The results indicated that this analytical technique is precise (RSD ≤ 2.69%) and accurate (relative errors ≤ 7.21%). The present approach is fast and simple, providing a robust avenue to the routine estimation of iodate in iodized salt in a wide variety of applications from processing to quality monitoring.

Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) Modeling of Laser-Induced Plasma Emission Spectra of Edible Salts for Accurate Classification.

We report soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) analysis of laser-induced plasma emission spectra of edible salts from 12 different geographical origins for their classification model. The spectra were recorded by using a simple laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) device. Each class was modeled by principal component analysis (PCA) of the LIBS spectra. For the classification of a separate test data set, the SIMCA model showed 97% accuracy in classification. An additional insight could be obtained by comparing the SIMCA classification result with that of partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Different from SIMCA, the PLS-DA classification accuracy seems to be sensitive to addition of new sample classes to the whole data set. This indicates that the individual modeling approach (SIMCA) can be an alternative to global modeling (PLS-DA), particularly for the classification problems with a relatively large number of sample classes.

Laser-Ablation Sampling for Accurate Analysis of Sulfur in Edible Salts.

We evaluated the performance of laser ablation analysis techniques such as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), laser ablation inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (LA-ICP-OES), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), in comparison with that of ICP-OES using aqueous solutions for the quantification of sulfur (S) in edible salts from different geographical origins. We found that the laser ablation based sampling techniques were not influenced by loss of S, which was observed in ICP-OES with aqueous solutions for a certain salt upon their dissolution in aqueous solutions, originating from the formation of volatile species and precipitates upon their dilution in water. Although detection of S using direct laser sampling with LA-ICP-MS has well-known isobaric and polyatomic interferences, LIBS and LA-ICP-OES showed good accuracy in the detection of S for all salts. LIBS also provided the ability to identify the dominant chemical form in which S is present in salts. Correlation between S and oxygen, observed in LIBS spectra, provided chemical information about the presence of S2- or [Formula: see text], which are associated with the origin and quality of edible salts.

Analysis of key findings at high risk areas of iodine deficiency disorders in China, 2014 / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective To investigate the population nutritional status of iodine in areas at high risk of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in our country and provide scientific basis for development control strategy to IDD.Methods According to the national IDD surveillance protocol which was revised in 2012,township (town,street office) as a unit,seven provinces including Zhejiang,Fujian,Guangdong,Guangxi,Henan,Qinghai and Xinjiang,32 monitoring counties in high-risk areas were chosen into the survey by simple random sampling.New cretinism cases were searched,the thyroid volume was examined in children,the urinary iodine in children and pregnant woman,and the family salt iodine level was tested.Results The survey found no suspected cases and no confirmed endemic cretinism cases.The goiter rate was 1.8％ (141/7 968)and the median of urinary iodine was 163.0 μg/L in children in the 7 project provinces.In addition to the median urinary iodine of 305.1 μg/L in Henan children,the median urinary iodine in other provinces was in the 100-199 μ.g/L.The median of urinary iodine in pregnant women was 120.8 μg/L,in addition to the median urinary iodine of 234.9 μg/L in pregnant women in Henan,the median urinary iodine of pregnant women in other provinces was less than 150 μg/L.The coverage rate of iodized salt in the 7 project provinces was 80.3％ (1 577/1 963),the coverage rate of iodized salt was less than 80％ in Guangxi,Qinghai,Fujian and Zhejiang.The 176 villages in the 6 project provinces were surveyed iodized salt bought through network,except Qinghai.Sale of iodized salt from salt retail accounted for 96.3％ (737/765).Survey of the 7 provinces of 2 024 women,pregnant women found that purchased salt accounted for 87.3％(1 766/2 024).Purchased and replaced salts was accounted for 3.6％ (72/2 024) and 9.2％ (186/2 024),respectively.The survey did not found a children who had taken iodine oil,only 47.5％(487/1 026) of pregnant women in Xinjiang had taken iodine oil.Conclusions The iodine nutrition level is appropriate in children in the areas at high risk of IDD,but the iodine nutrition level in pregnant women is low.Some areas should improve the coverage rate of iodized salt and iodized salt concentration,take health education at the right moment,promote iodized salt for pregnant women,and prevent new cretinism cases.

Analysis of key findings at high risk areas of iodine deficiency disorders in China, 2014 / 中华地方病学杂志

Objective To investigate the population nutritional status of iodine in areas at high risk of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in our country and provide scientific basis for development control strategy to IDD.Methods According to the national IDD surveillance protocol which was revised in 2012,township (town,street office) as a unit,seven provinces including Zhejiang,Fujian,Guangdong,Guangxi,Henan,Qinghai and Xinjiang,32 monitoring counties in high-risk areas were chosen into the survey by simple random sampling.New cretinism cases were searched,the thyroid volume was examined in children,the urinary iodine in children and pregnant woman,and the family salt iodine level was tested.Results The survey found no suspected cases and no confirmed endemic cretinism cases.The goiter rate was 1.8％ (141/7 968)and the median of urinary iodine was 163.0 μg/L in children in the 7 project provinces.In addition to the median urinary iodine of 305.1 μg/L in Henan children,the median urinary iodine in other provinces was in the 100-199 μ.g/L.The median of urinary iodine in pregnant women was 120.8 μg/L,in addition to the median urinary iodine of 234.9 μg/L in pregnant women in Henan,the median urinary iodine of pregnant women in other provinces was less than 150 μg/L.The coverage rate of iodized salt in the 7 project provinces was 80.3％ (1 577/1 963),the coverage rate of iodized salt was less than 80％ in Guangxi,Qinghai,Fujian and Zhejiang.The 176 villages in the 6 project provinces were surveyed iodized salt bought through network,except Qinghai.Sale of iodized salt from salt retail accounted for 96.3％ (737/765).Survey of the 7 provinces of 2 024 women,pregnant women found that purchased salt accounted for 87.3％(1 766/2 024).Purchased and replaced salts was accounted for 3.6％ (72/2 024) and 9.2％ (186/2 024),respectively.The survey did not found a children who had taken iodine oil,only 47.5％(487/1 026) of pregnant women in Xinjiang had taken iodine oil.Conclusions The iodine nutrition level is appropriate in children in the areas at high risk of IDD,but the iodine nutrition level in pregnant women is low.Some areas should improve the coverage rate of iodized salt and iodized salt concentration,take health education at the right moment,promote iodized salt for pregnant women,and prevent new cretinism cases.

LC-TOF/MS determination of phthalates in edible salts from food markets in Korea.

Residual quantities of 12 phthalates have been monitored in edible salts (raw salts, refined salts, refined salts with additives and baked salts) available in Korean food markets. Liquid-liquid extraction followed by liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF/MS) was used to analyse the samples. The method was validated and showed linear correlation (R² > 0.996) in the range 0.5-100 ng g⁻¹ for all target analytes. Recoveries were 85.9-108.4%, except for diethyl phthalate (DEP). Relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 2.7-6.0% and the limits of detection (LODs) were 1.2-2.8 ng g⁻¹. Although the contamination of phthalates in salt would be trivial in comparison to those of other main foods and below the reference dose of the Chronic Oral Exposure recommended by US-EPA, the availability of reference data could be valuable for food chemists and salt manufacturers.