Toxicity and carcinogenicity of furan in human diet

Abstract

Furan is formed during commercial or domestic thermal treatment of food. The initial surveys of furan concentrations in heat-treated foods, published by European and US authorities, revealed the presence of relatively high furan levels in coffee, sauces, and soups. Importantly, furan is consistently found in commercial ready-to-eat baby foods. Furan induces hepatocellular tumors in rats and mice and bile duct tumors in rats with a high incidence. Epidemiological studies are not available. It is assumed that cis-2-butene-1,4-dial, the reactive metabolite of furan, is the causative agent leading to toxicity and carcinogenicity. Based on this data, furan is classified as a possible human carcinogen. The initial exposure estimates revealed a relatively small margin (~2,000) between human exposure and those furan doses, which induce liver tumors in experimental animals. As this may give rise for concern, in this review, the currently available toxicological and mechanistic data of furan are summarized and discussed with regard to its applicability in assessing the risk of furan in human diet.

Abundant Rodent Furan-Derived Urinary Metabolites Are Associated with Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Humans

“…8,9 The contribution of canned and processed foods to furan exposure is estimated to be 0.3 μg/kg/day. 10,11 Smokers may be exposed to much larger amounts of furan than non-smokers since cigarette smoke contains significant levels of furan (20 – 40 μg/cigarette, depending on the method of analysis). 12–14 Therefore, furan could be a significant contributor to the adverse health effects associated with tobacco smoke.…”

Low dose assessment of the carcinogenicity of furan in male F344/N Nctr rats in a 2-year gavage study

“…The induction of hepatobiliary lesions in F344/N rats treated with furan has been the subject of intense investigations (reviewed by Bakhiya and Appel, 2010; Moro et al ., 2012a). A substantial number of these investigations have been conducted at doses that far exceed those used in the current study, which makes extrapolation to lower doses problematic.…”

Erhitzungsbedingte Kontaminanten in Lebensmitteln

“…Es wird insbesondere beim Rösten von Lebensmitteln oder bei Erhitzungsvorgängen in geschlossenen Gefäßen gebildet. Belastete Lebensmittelgruppen sind im Wesentlichen geröste-ter Kaffee, Instantkaffee, Babygläschen, Suppen, Saucen sowie Fleisch-und Getreideprodukte [30,31].…”