Page 23 - Book of Abstracts

5 International Scientific Online Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/2021.9788055224015

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SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL NUTRACEUTICALS AS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF
TRACE ELEMENTS
Iryna Andrusyshyna, Inna Golub, Olena Lampeka
SI “Kundiiev Institute of Occupational Health of NAMS of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine;
E-mail.: andrusyshyna.in@gmail.com
Today, the majority of scientific researchers believe that it is impossible to address the
microelementosis problem through correct diet only, so it is extremely timely today to identify
a safe and reliable source of minerals for the human body. In many countries all over the world,
targeted micronutrients have already been used for many years, and special programs have
been launched to develop functional foods. The monitoring of modern human nutrition profile
indicates a chronic deficiency in essential food components. At the International Conference on
Nutrition held in Rome in 1992, micronutrient deficiencies were recognized as a major problem
that could lead to a crisis in the nutrition of the world's population in the XXI century. Therefore,
a person's diet must meet his/her physiological needs for nutrients and biologically active
substances, micronutrients. Biologically active supplements (dietary supplements) became
available in Ukraine about ten years ago. Currently, more than 200 companies producing
biologically active supplements offer their products to the population of Ukraine.
The main components of dietary supplements include herbal extracts, bee products,
minerals (colloidal metal solutions), fermentation products, and, in recent years,
nanotechnology products. In some cases, dietary supplements can play the role of natural
sorbents.
In the SI "Kundiiev Institute of Occupational Medicine of the National Academy of Medical
Sciences", the methods for the prevention of heavy metal poisoning have been a research topic
for many years. The Institute has been successfully cooperating with international health and
safety organizations (WHO) and with labor organizations (ILO) and has been participating in
the projects run by the International Chemical Safety Program (UNEP Chemicals, UN). An
internationally acknowledged experience has been acquired not only in the comprehensive
assessment of working conditions in various production fields (industrial production,
agriculture, etc.) but also in the prevention of occupational and environmental diseases, chronic
and acute poisoning. The search for new preventive methods is continued.
Based on the above mentioned, it appeared relevant to assess the possibility for safe use
of pectins and bee products (honey, bee bread, and pollen) in this context. In order to determine
the content of 13 chemical elements in the samples of such products, a microwave method for
sample mineralization and a method for multi-elemental analysis, namely optical emission
spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma on PerkinElmer OPTIMA 2100 DV, were applied.
Our researches on elemental content in pectins and bee pollen resulted in the following findings.
High levels of Zn (34.49 μg/g), Fe (398.5 μg/g), and Mg (1.49 mg/g) in pectins make it possible
to use them as sorbents or immunomodulating agents. High levels of Ag (1.15 μg/g), Cu (7.50
μg/g), Se (0.61 μg/g), and Zn (46.41 μg/g) in bee pollen may be useful for people with
inflammatory diseases and immune system disorders.
Thus, modern dietary supplements are safe since they do not produce any toxic,
carcinogenic, mutagenic, or other adverse effects on the human body when they are consumed
in generally approved reasonable amounts. Their safety is warranted by established and
observed standard levels of related chemical substances in these products. Tangible success in
problem solutions responding to dietary micronutrient deficiency in the general population
relies on the implementation of and search for new methods for correcting micronutrient
imbalance in the human body.

Keywords: occupational risk, trace elements, micronutrients.

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5 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improving the Nutrition, Health, Quality of Life and |22
Spiritual Human Development
November 3 2021
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