The scandal of melamine-contamination has not been quite blown out, since the toxicity of melamine continues to raise concerns for public health. It has been well known that fetus and infant periods play the most important roles in brain development, whereas little has been done on the harmful effects of melamine on the center nervous system (CNS) of children. In the present study, we investiga...

The impact of melamine-contaminated animal feed ingredients on food safety has become a major public concern ever since melamine was identified as the organic compound responsible for the deaths of a significant number of cats and dogs in 2007 by way of adulterated pet food. Melamine, a common industrial chemical often added to resins to improve flame resistance and proposed as an alternative f...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the dietary melamine exposure in Chinese infants and young children from the consumption of melamine adulterated Sanlu infant formula. METHODS Four age groups of infants and young children (3, 6, 12, and 24 months) were chosen as the assessed subjects and the maximum amount of infant formula consumption was estimated based on the recommended usage level in the package in...

Albeit the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment after exposure to melamine has not been fully elucidated, factors such as oxidative stress is thought to play potential roles. In the present study, we investigated the effect of treatment with vitamin C (150mg/kg) and vitamin E (200mg/kg) on the impairment induced by melamine. Three-week-old male Wistar rats were submitted to oral gavage with 300...

Renal toxicity by melamine in combination with cyanuric acid (1:1) was investigated. Male rats were orally administered melamine plus cyanuric acid (5, 50 or 400 mg/kg each) for 3 days. In contrast to a negligible effect by melamine alone (50 mg/kg, a no-observed-adverse-effect-level: NOAEL), co-administration with cyanuric acid markedly increased the concentrations of blood urea nitrogen and c...

The intentional adulteration of pet food with melamine and derivatives, including cyanuric acid, has been implicated in the kidney failure and death of a large number of cats and dogs in the United States. Although individually these compounds present low toxicity, coexposure can lead to the formation of melamine cyanurate crystals in the nephrons and eventual kidney failure. To determine the d...

BACKGROUND In 2008, the outbreak of kidney stones in children fed by melamine-tainted milk products in Mainland China has caused major public concern of food safety. We identified Hong Kong school children with elevated urine melamine level from a community-based school survey in 2007-08 and reviewed their clinical status in 2009. METHODS In 2007-08, 2119 school children participated in a pri...

A simple, rapid colorimetric method using label-free Ag NPs (silver nanoparticles) as probe for detection of melamine in raw milk was developed in this study. The assay relies on the fact that melamine can induce aggregation of Ag NPs, and thereby results in their yellow-to-red color change. The concentration of melamine in raw milk can be determined by monitoring with the naked eyes or a UVeVi...

The migration of melamine monomers from food contact materials has aroused particular attention since the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal in China. However, the determination of melamine monomer's migratory quantity (MMMQ) has remained an open question because of the complex sample pretreatment and the low sensitivity. Based on the hydrogen bonding interaction between DNA thymine and melamin...

OBJECTIVES To study the migration of melamine into foods from plastic food packaging materials and dairy product containers commonly used in China. METHODS 37 samples were collected from the market. The EU migration testing conditions were adopted with distilled water, 3% acetic acid, n-hexane and 15% ethanol being chosen as the simulating solutions. The HPLC method was used to detect melamin...