Toxicological risks of bee pollen supplements using new approach methodologies

Food supplements are growing in popularity and are generally considered safe for consumption. Yet there is no regulation or systematically assessment for the quality and health risks of these products. They often consist of concentrated extracts from natural food products. Given the central tenant in toxicology is “the dose makes the poison”, the lack of regulation may mean that the consumption of supplements may pose a significant health risk. However, the application of traditional toxicity testing and risk assessment approaches for food additives for food supplements is too resource intensive and requires many animal tests. Therefore, a new workflow using modern technologies, such as high-resolution mass spectrometry and in vitro cell based assays to efficiently assess the health risks associated with supplement consumption is needed. Popular supplements include those that are bee pollen derived. They are well-known for their nutritional and medicinal value. Concurrently they are known be very heterogenous in chemical composition owing to the different geographical origins and lack of regulatory standards for the product. There have been numerous reports concerning adverse health effects that arise with the consumption of bee pollen supplements. It is found that bee pollen is often contaminated with hazardous chemicals such as heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids. The fact that these pollutants have been detected in bee pollen supplements support the need for a thorough risk assessment. The aim of this PhD project is to develop a Next Generation Risk Assessment workflow to chemical characterize the bee pollen exposome and systematically assess the possible health risks of bee pollen supplements.