EFSA was asked by the European Commission to deliver a scientific opinion on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in food. PBDEs are additive flame retardants which are applied in plastics, textiles, electronic castings and circuitry. PBDEs are ubiquitously present in the environment and likewise in biota and in food and feed. Data from the analysis of 19 PBDE congeners in 3,971 food samples were provided to EFSA by 11 European countries. Eight congeners were considered by the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) to be of primary interest: . The highest dietary exposure is to . Toxicity studies were carried out with technical PBDE mixtures or individual congeners. Main targets were the liver, thyroid hormone homeostasis and the reproductive and nervous system. PBDEs cause DNA damage through the induction of reactive oxygen species. The Panel identified effects on neurodevelopment as the critical endpoint, and derived benchmark doses (BMDs) and their corresponding lower 95 % confidence limit for a benchmark response of 10 %, BMDL 10 s, for a number of PBDE congeners: BDE-47, 309 μg/kg b.w.; BDE-99, 12 μg/kg b.w.; BDE-153, 83 μg/kg b.w.; BDE-209, 1,700 μg/kg b.w. Due to the limitations and uncertainties in the current database, the Panel concluded that it was inappropriate to use these BMDLs to establish health based guidance values, and instead used a margin of exposure (MOE) approach for the health risk assessment. Since elimination characteristics of PBDE congeners in animals and humans differ considerably, the Panel used the body burden as starting point for the MOE approach. The CONTAM Panel concluded that for BDE-47, -153 and -209 current dietary exposure in the EU does not raise a health concern. For BDE-99 there is a potential health concern with respect to current dietary exposure. 4 The term "intra-species" has been replaced by "inter-species" in the Summary and in Chapter 9.1. The chemical stability of the PBDE congeners varies with the individual structure. In general PBDE congeners with up to three bromine substituents and those with nine or ten bromine substituents are more sensitive to abiotic transformations. PBDE congeners with four to eight bromine substituents show the highest stability. PBDE congeners are particularly susceptible to photolysis, reductive debromination and radical reactions whereas they are less susceptible to oxidation and hydrolysis. In general, PBDE congeners are persistent and bioaccumulative with the exception of BDE-209 bioaccumulative properties of which seem to be species dependent. BDE-209 undergoes debromination reactions both in the abiotic environment and in biota, leading to formation of PBDE congeners containing seven to nine bromine atoms.
© European Food SafetyBased on the composition of the technical PBDE mixtures, occurrence in the environment and in food, the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) considered the following eight PBDE congeners to be of primary interest: which are relevant for dietary PBDE exposur...