Formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) from a refinery process for zinc oxide used in feed additives: A source of dioxin contamination in Chilean pork

Application of the EROD-H4IIE bioassay for the determination of dioxins in pork in comparison to high resolution gas chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry

“…Pork samples analysed by HRGC/HRMS, showed very low concentrations of PCDD/Fs and did not exceed the levels specified in domestic and foreign legislation (Minsalud 2008, Kim et al 2011. Only one sample was close to the intervention threshold for pork, therefore possible to infer that these contaminated premixes were added to the diets of pigs after the year 2007 and the negative sample for 2011 would indicate that measures taken by the Chilean pork industry to prevent another case of contamination could be fulfilling their purpose.…”

“…The final extract was enriched with a solution containing specified amounts of two isotopically labeled PCDD recovery standards (Wellington Laboratories Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada After obtaining the results expressed in pg WHO-TEQ/g fat for HRGC/HRMS and TCDD-EQs pg/g of tissue for EROD-H4IIE, a descriptive analysis of the data was performed for a subsequent correlation and regression analysis. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the results of sample analysis by HRGC/HRMS, which had low concentrations of PCDD/Fs and did not exceed the maximum allowed by Chilean legislation and the Republic of Korea of 2 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat (Minsalud 2008, Kim et al 2011 and the maximum allowed by the European of 1 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat . The average of these concentrations ranged from 0.22 pg/g fat (P5) and 0.34 pg/g fat (P2).…”

“…This pattern of decline has resulted in significant reductions in average human exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the dioxin congener of greatest toxicity and concern, and current exposures to dioxin are typically composed of smaller amounts of lower toxicity congeners (Hays and Aylward 2001, Petreas et al 2001, Hites 2011. However, the presence of dioxins has been reported in pork for human consumption (Bernard et al 2002, Guruge et al 2005, Hoffman et al 2006, Hoogenboom et al 2007, Covaci et al 2008, Kim et al 2011 ), raising concerns due to accumulation of these xenobiotics in the food chain, particularly in animal fat. In this sense, the European Union has adopted a series of regulatory measures to reduce the presence of PCDD/Fs, in addition to monitoring food of animal origin, including pork from the Community member states, by using high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS).…”

Application of a model to estimate total concentrations of dioxins and DL-PCBs in pork production in Chile

“…Sources of dietary minerals also present a high risk level, considering that their average concentration exceeds the rest of the raw material categories that constitute D1 and D2 (table 2). Cases of dioxin contamination have been described due to the presence of contaminated zinc oxide in animal feed supplements (US FDA 2003, Kim et al 2011. Fatty acid mixtures in D1 and vegetable oils in D2 pose a high risk level.…”

“…It has been reported that food consumption accounts for approximately 90% of human exposure to dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, PCDDs and dibenzofurans, PCDFs) (Bocio et al 2007), and pork meat is mentioned as one of the sources (Bernard et al 2002, Guruge et al 2005, Hoffman et al 2006, Hoogenboom et al 2007, Covaci et al 2008, Kim et al 2011. These findings confirm that the accumulation of dioxins in fat tissue can occur at different levels of the food chain, and contaminated feedstuffs is one of the main ways of introducing dioxins into food for human consumption (Spiro andStigliani 2004, Samsing et al 2011).…”