Contamination of food samples from Malaysia with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and estimation of human intake

Abstract

A total of 126 food samples, categorised into three groups (seafood and seafood products, meat and meat products, as well as milk and dairy products) from Malaysia were analysed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The concentration of PCDD/Fs that ranged from 0.16 to 0.25 pg WHO₀₅-TEQ g⁻¹ fw was found in these samples. According to the food consumption data from the Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) of the World Health Organization (WHO), the dietary exposures to PCDD/F from seafood and seafood products, meat and meat products, as well as milk and dairy products for the general population in Malaysia were 0.064, 0.183 and 0.736 pg WHO₀₅-TEQ kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹, respectively. However, the exposure was higher in seafood and seafood products (0.415 pg WHO₀₅-TEQ kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) and meat and meat products (0.317 pg WHO₀₅-TEQ kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) when the data were estimated using the Malaysian food consumption statistics. The lower exposure was observed in dairy products with an estimation of 0.365 pg WHO₀₅-TEQ kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹. Overall, these dietary exposure estimates were much lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) as recommended by WHO. Thus, it is suggested that the dietary exposure to PCDD/F does not represent a risk for human health in Malaysia.

Keywords:

• polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs)
• polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)
• dietary intake
• Malaysia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the staff of the Food Safety (dioxin team) and R&D Department, Centre for Advanced Analytical Toxicology Services (CAATS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, for their effort in sample analyses and data collection.