Levels of PCDDs and PCDFs in food-stuffs from the Federal Republic of Germany

118

For nonoccupationally exposed persons, the daily intake via food consumption has been calculated to be 0.35 pg/kg body weight per day for 2,3,7,-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and 2.3 pg/kg body weight per day for TCDD equivalents (TEqs). As compared to food, other sources and pathways are of minor importance. Food of animal origin contributes most, although human exposure begins with atmospheric emissions depositing these compounds on plant surfaces. In the meantime, a possible additional body burden from cardboard containers for cow's milk and coffee filters has been practically excluded. Ofthe 210 existing PCDDs and PCDFs, only 15 2,37,8-substituted isomers with a characteristic congener pattern can be found in samples of human origin. In adipose tissue and milk samples, mean levels for 2,3,7,8-TCDD of 7.2 and 3.6 pg/g fat, respectively, and of 56 (range 18-122) and 30 (range 10-72) pg TEqs/g fat, respectively, were determined. Human data revealed a dependency of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) levels on age. In human milk, levels became reduced with the number of children born to mothers and duration of breast-feeding period. The average daily intake for a breast-fed child has been calculated to be 17 pg 2,3,7,8-TCDD/kg body weight per day and 142 pg TEqs/kg body weight per day, respectively. Levels in adipose tissue of infants, even ifbreast fed, were distinctly lowercompared to human milk. In human milk, adipose tissue, and whole blood, PCDD/PCDF concentrations have been found to be equal on a fat-weight basis. Liver fat accumulated PCDD/PCDF with an alteration in the congener distribution pattern, whereas brain, even on afat-weight basis, showed the lowest concentrations. Elevated or even high levels were found in occupationally exposed persons working in special chemical plants or involved in specific processes. There are limited data suggesting slightly elevated PCDD/PCDF levels are due to longterm consumption ofa large share of food produced near point sources with a heavy emission or ingestion ofsoil or dust from such areas.

Section: Foodmentioning

confidence: 52%

Section: Adipose Tissuementioning

confidence: 99%

PCDD and PCDF exposure and levels in humans in Germany.

Beck

Droß

Mathar

1994

118

“…The most toxic and persistent congeners are 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs, due to their high affinity for the Ah receptor and resistance to biotransformation (2). Almost all PCDDs and PCDFs found in humans from the general population are believed to come from food, especially meat, milk, fish, and their by-products (3,4). A number of health studies performed on populations occupationally or environmentally exposed to PCDDs and PCDFs or closely related chemicals found a variety of health effects, similar to toxic effects reported in animal studies, either beginning soon after exposure, or in the case of cancer mortality, after a latency period (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Congener-specific levels of dioxins and dibenzofurans in U.S. food and estimated daily dioxin toxic equivalent intake.

Schecter

Startin

Wright

et al. 1994

Food, especially meat, milk, and fish, is the immediate source of almost all polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxinlike compounds in the general population. To estimate intake of these highly toxic compounds, we performed congener-specific dioxin analyses for the first time on U.S. food for 18 dairy meat, and fish samples from a supermarket in upstate New York. 2,3,7,8 Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, "dioxin") toxic equivalents (TEqs) on a wet weight basis for the dairy products ranged for 0.04 to 0.7 ppt, meat TEqs ranged from 0.03 to 1.5 ppt, and fish TEqs ranged from 0.02 to 0.13 ppt. Previous human breast milk and infant formula analyses were used with the current preliminary food data to estimate a range of dioxin intake for Americans. Average daily food intake of TEqs for an adult weighing 65 kg was estimated to be between 0.3 and 3.0 pg/kg body weight, for a total of 18-192 pg TEq, using 1986 American consumption rates. Due to the relatively high level of PCDDs and PCDFs commonly found in human breast milk from American women and from women in other industrial countries, a nursing infant may consume an average of 35-53 pg TEq/kg body weight/day in its first year of life. This may be compared with the current U.S. EPA virtually safe dose of 0.006 pg TCDD/kg body weight per day over a 70-year lifetime based on an upper limit cancer risk of 10(-6), or the 10 pg/kg/day used by some European government agencies.

“…Evidence for industrial origin ofmost dioxins has also previously been demonstrated from environmental data (26)(27)(28)(29) and from human tissue measurements of frozen ancient Eskimo tissue compared to modem tissue (31,32). Food consumption is the primary form of human intake in these cases, specifically meat, milk, fish, and their by-products (18,(22)(23)(24)30). PCDD/F levels are presented for various organs of the body considered to be target organs for dioxin toxicity, and these levels are compared to adipose tissue, which, along with blood, is usually used as a signal tissue or reference for dioxin levels and estimates of body burden in potentially exposed persons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…This documented dioxins and dibenzofurans in the blood and adipose tissue ofthe general public and also elevated PCDD/Fs in some exposed workers. With marked improvements in specificity and sensitivity, a large number of reports worldwide have described human tissue and food levels of these chemicals which, for the most part, are synthetic and of recent origin (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). This paper reviews recent findings in human tissues from a number of countries, which vary in level of industrialization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlorinated dioxins and dibenzofurans in human tissues from general populations: a selective review

Schecter

Fürst²,

Fürst³

et al. 1994

Self Cite

During the past decade a considerable amount of data has been generated concerning polychlorinated dibenzodioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels in humans from many geographical locations. To organize these data in a useful fashion for environmental purposes and for consideration of human toxicity, selected portions ofour data are presented in a somewhat atypical fashion, by percentage contribution of individual congeners to total PCDD/Fs in human tissue, and to the total dioxin equivalents (TEq). This is done to better characterize congener contributions from environmental contamination in various geographical regionsat this time and health-related levels. To present the findings in a global perspective, data from widely different locations are presented including the United States, Germany, Vietnam, the former Soviet Union, Thailand,