This study aimed to permit further refinements in exposure assessments for migrants from food-contact materials by contributing to the characterization, at the household level, of the food packaging usage (amount and type) of Portuguese urban families. Packages from domestic use were collected from a sample of 105 consumers from 34 households over a 30 day period. Collected packages (more than 6 000 items) were characterized in the laboratory and data were used to estimate: (i) global packaging usage and food intake; (ii) the consumption factors (CF) that describe the fraction of the daily diet expected to contact specific packaging materials and (iii) the food-type factors (FTF) that reflect the fraction of all food contacting each material that is different in nature according to 6 major types: aqueous, acidic, alcoholic, milky, fatty and dry. The daily intake of packaged food and beverages consumed at home ranged from 5 to 50 g/kg bw. Considering all materials, total package usage ranged from 0.1 to 0.6 dm 2 /day.kg bw. The ratio between package surface area in contact and the quantity of food was determined for all packaging items collected and an average value of 25 dm 2 /kg food was recorded. Data were gathered and presented in a manner compatible with current probabilistic approaches to exposure assessment. In this way, relevant
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