PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOIDS
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid intoxication is caused by consumption of plant material containing these alkaloids. The plants may be consumed as food, for medicinal purposes, or as contaminants of other agricultural crops. Cereal crops and forage crops are sometimes contaminated with pyrrolizidine-producing weeds, and the alkaloids find their way into flour and other foods, including milk from cows feeding on these plants. Many plants from the Boraginaceae, Compositae, and Leguminosae families contain well over 100 hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Source: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap42.html, NIH; 2008
