PCB concentrations in some foods from four European countries

Samples of salmon, butter and cabbage from Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal were analysed for their content in total, non-dioxin-like (as represented by the so-called seven indicator-PCBs: congeners 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180) and dioxin-like PCBs (mono-ortho and non-ortho PCBs). Salmon an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food and chemical toxicology 2008-03, Vol.46 (3), p.1062-1067
Main Authors: Zuccato, E., Grassi, P., Davoli, E., Valdicelli, L., Wood, D., Reitano, G., Fanelli, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Brassica
Butter
cabbage
Dioxin-like PCBs
dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls
Europe
Food
Food Analysis
food contamination
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
geographical variation
Medical sciences
PCBs
polychlorinated biphenyls
Polychlorinated Biphenyls - analysis
Salmon
Salmonidae
Toxicology
Vegetables
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Summary:Samples of salmon, butter and cabbage from Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal were analysed for their content in total, non-dioxin-like (as represented by the so-called seven indicator-PCBs: congeners 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180) and dioxin-like PCBs (mono-ortho and non-ortho PCBs). Salmon and cabbage from Belgium, and butter from Portugal and Belgium, contained less total and non-dioxin-like PCBs than those from other countries. Samples from Italy had the highest concentrations. Similar patterns were observed for dioxin-like PCBs (as represented by the TCDD-equivalents of toxicity, WHO-TEQs), with the lowest values in Belgium and Portugal for salmon, in Portugal for butter and in Belgium for cabbage. Differences up to five-fold in PCB concentrations and TEQ values were seen among commodities from the four countries. The implication is that it might be worthwhile monitoring, with selection of the least contaminated commodities, to reduce the PCB exposure of the general population. This could have health consequences, because daily intakes are higher than the tolerable levels for a considerable part of the European population.
ISSN:0278-6915
1873-6351
DOI:10.1016/j.fct.2007.10.040