title: The concentration of aflatoxin M1 in the mothers' milk in Khorrambid City, Fars, Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aflatoxins are secondary toxic metabolites produced by certain group of Aspergillus species in suitable conditions. These toxins are highly toxic, immunosuppressive, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic metabolites. The purpose of this study was to detection aflatoxin M1 concentration in mother's milk from rural area of Khorrambid town of Fars Province.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 87 milk samples of mothers were collected by cluster sampling methods in the period between June and July 2011 and the amount of aflatoxin M1 was measured by a competitive ELISA method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 87 mother's milk, 24 (27.6%) samples were contaminated with aflatoxin M1 with mean concentration of 0.56 ± 1.23 pg/ml (range 0.13-4.91 pg/ml).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The amount of aflatoxin M1 in mothers' milk was lower than 50 ng/l (Europe Union and Iranian standard). Detection of Aflatoxin M1 in mothers' milk is due to consuming contaminated food. This contamination not only threatens the health of the mothers but also has irreversible effects on the growth and health of their babies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rafiei
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Parvin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Fars, Iran.
authors.forename: Keyvan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pakshir
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mostafa Chadegani
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pour
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Fars, Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akbari
keywords: Aflatoxin M1; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; milk; mothers; mycotoxins