Risk assessment of persistent, chlorinated and brominated environmental pollutants in food

This report documents the scientific basis for the Swedish National Food Administration’s (NFA) risk assessment of persistent organic halogenated environmental contaminants in food. The risk assessment is part of the work associated with a revision of NFA’s advice to consumers with regard to fish contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). PCBs are industrial chemicals which have been prohibited in most countries of the world for many years. Levels of PCBs in the environment have dropped since the 1970’s. PCDD/Fs (dioxins) are compounds that are produced unintentionally during combustion processes and when certain chemicals are produced. Great emphasis has been placed on minimizing the presence of these contaminants in the environment. NFA’s risk assessment focus mainly on PCDD/F (dioxins) and PCBs, even though there are many other organic halogenated environmental contaminants in food. Current knowledge indicates that PCBs and dioxins are the halogenated compounds that have the largest potential to cause negative health effects among the human population. Exposure to DDT compounds in Sweden is low as compared with the levels that the World Health Organization (WHO) considers to be safe. Extensive international epidemiological research on the potential health risks of DDT compounds suggest that the compounds are not a significant health risk in Sweden. Current knowledge about brominated flame retardant compounds suggest that there is enough of a margin between exposure from food in Sweden and the levels at which there is an increased risk for health effects in animal experiments