Limit values for intakes of persistent pollutants via food
The page includes limit values set up by international advisory and/or governing bodies regulating environmental health issues for intakes of persistent contaminants, organic or inorganic, via food. Contaminants currently included for their limit values are:
- Mercury (Hg) as its organic form, methylmercury (MeHg), the most readily bioaccumulated form
- Dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- Polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs)
Table 1. Limit values for MeHg intakes as body weight related concentration units per day set up by various international regulating bodies.
TDI | PTWI | RfD | Evaluation year | Reference |
- | - | 0,1 µg/kg bw/d | 2000 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9899&page=11, http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309071402 |
- | - | 0,3-1,0 µg/kg bw/d | 1998 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9899&page=72 |
- | - | 0,1 µg/kg bw/d | 1997 | http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/reports/volume1.pdf |
- | - | 0,025-0,06 µg/kg bw/d | 1995 | http://www.ehponline.org/members/1995/Suppl-6/gibert-full.html |
- | - | 0,05 µg/kg bw/d | 1995 | |
- | - | 0,07 µg/kg bw/d | 1993 | http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119302473/abstract |
- | 3,3 µg/kg bw | - | http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119302473/abstract | |
0,48 µg/kg bw | - | - | 1990 | http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc101.htm#SubSectionNumber:10.2.2 |
PBDEs
For polybrominated diphenylethers there is currently no limit values available. JECFA (the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) however has given an indicative threshold concentration at 100 µg/kg body weight/day, and concludes that ‘the limited toxicity data suggests that for the more toxic (less brominated) PBDE congeners (eg. BDE-47 and BDE-99) adverse effects would be unlikely to occur at doses of less than approximately 100 µg/kg bw per day’. FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) concurs with the JECFA conclusions.[2]