Levels and distribution of PBDEs and PFASs in pork from different European countries

ABSTRACT

Meat and meat products are included in a great number of human diets. However, the great consumption of meat needs to be controlled for the presence of traces of contaminants. The European Commission has not stated maximum limits for some environmental pollutants such as the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE); the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Scientific Panel has recommended that more occurrence data for PFASs in food should be collected to improve the accuracy of future exposure calculations. Therefore, the distribution of PFASs and PBDEs trace contaminants from eight EU Member States were investigated through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). No PFASs were detected, except perfluorooctanoic acid, in only one Austrian sample at the concentration of 0.531 ng g⁻¹. PBDEs were detected in 3 out of 77 samples: one from Germany showed the presence of all congeners analysed in the concentration range 0.53–0.77 ng g⁻¹, the others, from Netherland and Italy, respectively contained PBDE 153 (0.53 ng g⁻¹) and PBDE 100 (0.62 ng g⁻¹). The results show that the analysed samples do not pose a risk for human beings in regard to PFASs and PBDEs. Further studies are needed to keep monitoring their presence in foodstuff, as it has been suggested by European Commission.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• GC-MS/MS
• LC-HRMS
• PBDEs
• PFASs
• Pork

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Maria Nobile; she is the recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship in Veterinary and Animal Science, in the Laboratories of Veterinary Toxicology and Inspection of Food of Animal Origin at the University of Milan.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.