Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in Foodstuffs:  Human Exposure through the Diet

Abstract

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in a variety of materials, including synthetic polymers and textiles. Although these chemicals have been detected in environmental samples and human tissues, there is little information about human exposure to PBDEs through the diet. In the present study, we determined the concentrations of PBDEs in a number of food samples acquired in Catalonia (Spain) during 2000. The dietary intake of PBDEs was estimated for the general population living in this Spanish region. The highest PBDE concentrations were found in oils and fats, fish and shellfish, meat and meat products, and eggs, while the lowest levels corresponded to fruits, vegetables, and tubers. The dietary intake of PBDEs for an adult male was 97.3 ng/day (assuming not detected (ND) = (1)/(2) limit of detection (LOD)) or 81.9 ng/day (assuming ND = 0) The greatest contribution to these values corresponded to fish and shellfish, with approximately one-third of the total intake. TetraBDEs and pentaBDEs were the homologues showing the highest percentages of contribution to the sum of total PBDEs. The comparison of the current dietary intake with the suggested lowest observed adverse effect level value of 1 mg/kg/day for the most sensitive endpoints for toxic effects of PBDEs results in a safety factor over 5 orders of magnitude in relation to PBDE exposure from food.

Halogenated flame retardants in home-produced eggs from an electronic waste recycling region in South China: Levels, composition profiles, and human dietary exposure assessment

“…These levels were also one to two orders of magnitude higher than PBDE concentrations (564 ng/g lipid weight) examined in eggs from the e-waste recycling site in Southeast China (Qin et al, 2011), two to three orders of magnitude greater than those (7.8 ng/g lipid weight) detected in the home-produced eggs from Belgian (Covaci et al, 2009), and three to four orders of magnitude greater than the reported levels (b1.5 ng/g lipid weight) in eggs from markets of Spain (Bocio et al, 2003), Sweden (Darnerud et al, 2006), Belgian (Voorspoels et al, 2007), and USA (Schecter et al, 2004(Schecter et al, , 2006. The results suggested that home-produced eggs from the e-waste recycling sites have been heavily polluted by PBDEs, because of the primitive recycling procedures without adequate measures of protecting environmental and human health (Wu et al, 2008).…”

“…The OctaBDE mixture has been mainly used in electrical connectors and wires, and molded parts of electronic equipments, which were recycled in Site 1 and Site 2, respectively, but not in Site 3. Previous studies have mostly investigated lower brominated PBDEs in eggs, with BDEs 47, 99, 153, and 183 being the dominant congeners (Bocio et al, 2003;Darnerud et al, 2006;Schecter et al, 2004;Voorspoels et al, 2007). BDE 209 has been only recently investigated in hen eggs.…”

“…Additionally, they are considered to be a good indicator of ambient persistent organic pollutants levels (Windal et al, 2009). However, the contribution of eggs to dietary exposure of HFRs is generally ignored and there are only a few reports on HFRs occurrence in eggs (Bocio et al, 2003;Covaci et al, 2009;Darnerud et al, 2006;Qin et al, 2011;Rawn et al, 2011;Schecter et al, 2004Schecter et al, , 2006Voorspoels et al, 2007). Nevertheless, the available data on HFRs in eggs generally concerns commercially produced eggs (based on market basket surveys), few study results are reported HFRs in home-produced eggs (Covaci et al, 2009;Fernandes et al, 2010).…”

PBBs, PBDEs, and PCBs in foods collected from e-waste disassembly sites and daily intake by local residents

“…In the study sites, the foods of vegetable origin (rice and vegetables) account for 83% of the total seven food groups intake, and those of animal origin only account for 17% of the total intake, which mainly include fish (6.5%), fowl (1.5%), pork (6.6%), and egg (2.0%); and other foods of animal origin almost can't be found in these local grocery stores. Bocio et al (2003) reported that intake of animal origin foods account for 46.7% (including fish (6.4%), meat (12.8%), egg (2.4%), dairy product (7.3%), milk (15.0%), and fat (2.8%)) in Spanish (Catalonia) dietary intake. The fact shows that the village residents' food habits and traditions in Zhejiang Province (China) are different from those in Spain (or other countries), foods of vegetable origin are the primary foods.…”

PBDE exposure from food in Ireland: optimising data exploitation in probabilistic exposure modelling

“…To put the Irish dose estimates into perspective, they are compared with doses presented in other studies (Table 5) (Bocio et al, 2003;Harrad et al, 2004;Gomara et al, 2006;UKFSA, 2006b;Voorspoels et al, 2007;Akutsu et al, 2008a;Bakker et al, 2008;Sioen et al, 2008;Schecter et al, 2010). We also present external doses (i.e., before uptake into the body) to make our estimates better comparable with other studies (for detailed results see Supplementary Table S11 and Table S12).…”