Dietary Exposures to Food Contaminants
across the United States

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:    Frankp@chiro.org

Environmental Research
Vol. 84, No. 2, October 1, 2000
ISSN: 0013-9351

Charlotte P. Dougherty*,  Sarah Henricks Holtz*,  Joseph C. Reinert,  Lily Panyacosit,  Daniel A. Axelrad,  Tracey J. Woodruff   *Industrial Economics, Inc., 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02140 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation, Washington, DC, 20460 School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720

(Received March 16, 1999; published electronically December 04, 2000)

Abstract Food consumption is an important route of human exposure to pesticides and industrial pollutants. Average dietary exposures to 37 pollutants were calculated for the whole United States population and for children under age 12 years by combining contaminant data with food consumption data and summing across food types. Pollutant exposures were compared to benchmark concentrations, which are based on standard toxicological references, for cancer and noncancer health effects. Average food ingestion exposures for the whole population exceeded benchmark concentrations for arsenic, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls, when nondetects were assumed to be equal to zero. For each of these pollutants, exposure through fish consumption accounts for a large percentage of food exposures. Exposure data for childhood age groups indicated that benchmark concentrations for the six identified pollutants are exceeded by the time age 12 years is reached. The methods used in this analysis could underestimate risks from childhood exposure, as children have a longer time to develop tumors and they may be more susceptible to carcinogens; therefore, there may be several additional contaminants of concern. In addition, several additional pollutants exceeded benchmark levels when nondetects were assumed to be equal to one half the detection limit. Uncertainties in exposure levels may be large, primarily because of numerous samples with contaminant levels below detection limits. Copyright 2000 Academic Press. Key Words:  consumption; contaminant; cumulative; data base; exposure; food.

1The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the USEPA.

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