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
