Toxicological and ecotoxicological aspects of tartrazine yellow food dye: a literature review

Abstract

The use of the tartrazine yellow additive in food products for human consumption is permitted within the acceptable daily intake of 7.5 mg/kg of body weight per day (following the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives standards). However, studies have described this as a toxic compo-nent. The dye, which is intensively used in the industry and commerce, enters the aquatic environ-ment through releases of non-treated or inadequately treated effluents; however, further ecotoxico-logical research is needed. We addressed studies reporting the toxic effects of the exposure to this dye developed in humans, guinea pigs, and Danio rerio (a fish with molecular bases and genomes similar to humans). Based on this review, the doses allowed for acceptable daily intake, or even lower, toxic effects, can be evidenced for different organisms, life stages, and tested times. The re-ported values may not be protective to aquatic life. In a paper about the exposure of D. rerio from embryos to larvae kept at values lower than 0.05 and 0.5 g.L-1 for pure and commercial tartrazine, there was ecotoxicological effect for embryos and larvae 48 hours after hatching, which implied cardiac edema, changes in the yolk sac, scoliosis, and tail distortions.

Riboflavin attenuates tartrazine toxicity in the cerebellar cortex of adult albino rat

“…Numerous studies on different doses of tartrazine and riboflavin were conducted. The current dose of tartrazine was chosen according to the acceptable daily intake of tartrazine for human consumption 5 .…”

“…The acceptable daily intake of tartrazine for human consumption reported by the World Health Organization and Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives ( JECFA) is about 7.5 mg/kg based on a 2-year feeding study in rats that determined a no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of 750 mg/kg body weight/day 5 , 6 .…”

“…The former literature reported that tartrazine causes various behavioral changes such as hyperactivity, irritability, restlessness, and sleep disorder in children. Also, extensive usage of tartrazine in humans led to harmful health impacts such as thyroid cancer, asthma, eczema, migraines, genotoxicity, liver and kidney impairment, and infertility 2 , 5 , 8 , 9 .…”

“…This variation may also be explained by regional variations in dietary practices, as, for instance, dye consumption is likely lower in Japan than it is in America 4 .Moreover, the interaction between several drugs further complicates the description of the necessary safety limits for human intake of tartrazine 3 .The former literature reported that tartrazine causes various behavioral changes such as hyperactivity, irritability, restlessness, and sleep disorder in children. Also, extensive usage of tartrazine in humans led to harmful health impacts such as thyroid cancer, asthma, eczema, migraines, genotoxicity, liver and kidney impairment, and infertility 2,5,8,9 .…”

Methacrylated Cellulose Nanocrystals as Fillers for the Development of Photo-Cross-Linkable Cytocompatible Biosourced Formulations Targeting 3D Printing

“…A usual strategy to improve the resolution of printed objects is the addition of a photoabsorber to limit the transmission of the UV-light throughout the formulation during insolation. − In the case of aqueous mCMC formulations for biomedicine, the ideal photoabsorber must be biocompatible, soluble, or dispersible in water and should absorb at a specific wavelength (typically 365, 385, or 405 nm). However, the known photoabsorbers meeting these last two criteria fail to exhibit biocompatibility, some of them being even suspected to be toxic, such as tartrazine used for yellow food coloring …”