Levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food of animal origin in the Netherlands during the period 2001–2011

Figures & data

Table 1. Number of meat, milk and eggs samples tested (n_total) and numbers (n) exceeding one or both maximum levels (MLs) for PCDD/Fs or the sum of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, according to 1881/2006/EC (expressed as pg TEQ_WHO1998 g⁻¹ fat).

Food product	ntotal	ML (PCDD/Fs)			ML (PCDD/Fs + DL-PCBs)			Combined
			Samples > ML			Samples > ML		Samples > ML
		ML	n	%	ML	n	%	n	%
Meat
(products)	1610	na	4	0.2	na	5	0.3	6	0.4
Beef	290	3	0	0	4.5	0	0	0	0
Chicken	274	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Liver	40	6	2	5.0	12	2	5.0	2	5.0
Pork	556	1	0	0	1.5	0	0	0	0
Sheep	177	3	2	1.1	4.5	3	1.7	4	2.3
Veal	273	3	0	0	4.5	0	0	0	0
Milk	335	3	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Eggs	492	3	3	0.6	6	4	0.8	5	1.0

na = not applicable as the regulatory limits vary for the different meat products.

Table 2. Number of meat, milk and eggs samples tested (n_total) and numbers exceeding one or both action levels (AL) for PCDD/Fs or DL-PCBs according to 2006/794/EC (expressed as pg TEQ_WHO1998 g⁻¹ fat).

Food product	ntotal	AL (PCDD/Fs)			AL (DL-PCBs)			Combined
			Samples > AL			Samples > AL		Samples > AL
		AL	n	%	AL	n	%	n	%
Meat
(products)	1610	na	30	1.8	na	75	4.5	81	4.9
Beef	290	1.5	0	0	1	27	9.3	27	9.3
Chicken	274	1.5	1	0.4	1.5	0	0	1	0.4
Liver	40	4	3	7.5	4	3	7.5	4	10.0
Pork	556	0.6	0	0	0.5	1	0.2	1	0.2
Sheep	177	1.5	25	14.1	1	41	23.2	45	25.4
Veal	273	1.5	1	0.3	1	3	1.1	3	1.1
Milk	335	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Eggs	492	2	4	0.8	2	4	0.8	7	1.4

na = not applicable as the regulatory limits vary between the different meat products

Table 3. Distribution of mean lower and upper bound levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs (in pg TEQ_WHO2005 g⁻¹ fat) based on pooled quarterly (PQ) samples from 2001–2009.

Food group	n		PCDD/Fs		DL-PCBs		Sum PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs
	PQ^a	Total^b	lb	ub	lb	ub	lb	ub
Beef	71	239	0.41	0.51	0.76	0.76	1.17	1.26
Chicken	31	182	0.04	0.24	0.08	0.08	0.12	0.32
Pork	83	429	0.04	0.26	0.07	0.07	0.11	0.33
Sheep	33	135	0.76	0.79	0.77	0.77	1.53	1.56
Veal	42	226	0.16	0.32	0.35	0.35	0.51	0.67
Milk	26	224	0.24	0.34	0.44	0.44	0.69	0.78
Eggs	40	359	0.27	0.38	0.22	0.23	0.49	0.60

^aNumber of pooled samples; ^btotal number of samples mixed into the pooled samples.

Figure 1. Frequency distribution of the levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in (A) beef (n = 50) and (B) chicken (n = 65) using EU monitoring samples. Both lower and upper bound levels are shown, as well as the P50 (median) and P95 levels of both distributions (expressed in pg TEQ_{WHO2005 g-1} fat).

Table 4. Distribution of upper bound PCDD/F, DL-PCB and total TEQ levels of Dutch EU monitoring data (2004–2011) and EFSA data (2010). Levels in pg TEQ g⁻¹ fat, based on WHO-TEFs₂₀₀₅ and compared with ALs/MLs applied since 2012.

	Limits		NL (EU)				EFSA (2010)
	AL^a	ML^b	n^c	Mean	P50^d	P95^e	n^c	Mean	P50^d	P95^e
PCDD/Fs
Fat ruminants	1.75	2.5	130	0.41	0.32	0.97	80	0.46	0.36	1.09
Meat bovine animals	1.75	2.5	—	—	—	—	175	2.39	0.51	2.86
Fat of cattle	1.75	2.5	50	0.40	0.34	0.89	—	—	—	—
Fat of calf	1.75	2.5	41	0.28	0.28	0.38	—	—	—	—
Fat of sheep	1.75	2.5	39	0.55	0.37	1.21	—	—	—	—
Fat of pig	0.75	1	87	0.21	0.16	0.29	89	0.70	0.32	3.84
Meat pigs	0.75	1	—	—	—	—	90	0.42	0.21	1.10
Fat of poultry	1.25	1.75	65	0.21	0.18	0.29	66	0.34	0.17	1.29
Meat poultry	1.25	1.75	—	—	—	—	94	0.64	0.36	1.65
Liver (terrestrial animals)^f	—	4.5	33	2.02	0.60	6.29	91	2.63	1.58	9.76
Raw milk and dairy products	1.75	2.5	106	0.32	0.31	0.46	931	0.67	0.39	2.35
Hen eggs and egg products	1.75	2.5	103	0.29	0.26	0.65	785	0.83	0.42	2.59
DL-PCBs
Fat ruminants	1.75	—	130	0.55	0.41	1.46	80	0.49	0.32	1.51
Meat bovine animals	1.75	—	—	—	—	—	175	0.93	0.63	2.56
Fat of cattle	1.75	—	50	0.67	0.45	1.69	—	—	—	—
Fat of calf	1.75	—	41	0.32	0.31	0.53	—	—	—	—
Fat of sheep	1.75	—	39	0.64	0.50	1.92	—	—	—	—
Fat of pig	0.5	—	87	0.03	0.02	0.07	89	0.89	0.16	3.83
Meat pigs	0.5	—	—	—	—	—	90	0.28	0.09	1.13
Fat of poultry	0.75	—	65	0.06	0.05	0.13	66	0.18	0.13	0.42
Meat poultry	0.75	—	—	—	—	—	94	0.36	0.17	1.61
Liver (terrestrial animals) ^f	—	—	33	1.00	0.31	5.27	91	2.30	0.61	4.09
Raw milk and dairy products	2	—	106	0.40	0.38	0.67	931	0.95	0.45	3.11
Hen eggs and egg products	1.75	—	103	0.15	0.10	0.44	785	0.88	0.22	2.91
Sum PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs
Fat ruminants	—	4	130	0.96	0.70	2.45	80	0.95	0.66	2.88
Meat bovine animals	—	4	—	—	—	—	175	3.33	1.29	4.26
Fat of cattle	—	4	50	1.08	0.77	2.47	—	—	—	—
Fat of calf	—	4	41	0.60	0.57	0.94	—	—	—	—
Fat of sheep	—	4	39	1.19	0.85	3.11	—	—	—	—
Fat of pig	—	1.25	87	0.24	0.20	0.35	89	1.59	0.54	9.70
Meat pigs	—	1.25	—	—	—	—	90	0.69	0.33	2.84
Fat of poultry	—	3	65	0.26	0.24	0.43	66	0.52	0.32	1.63
Meat poultry	—	3	—	—	—	—	94	1.00	0.60	2.11
Liver (terrestrial animals) ^f	—	10	33	3.02	0.88	10.94	91	4.93	1.82	17.02
Raw milk and dairy products	—	5.5	106	0.73	0.71	1.08	931	1.61	0.90	5.42
Hen eggs and egg products	—	5	103	0.44	0.37	1.03	785	1.71	0.69	5.35

(a) ALs based on Commission Recommendation 2011/516/EU (EC 2011a), (b) MLs based on Commission Regulation (EU) No 1259/2011 (EC 2011b), (c) n = total number of samples, (d) P50 = median, (e) P95 = 95^th percentile, (f) limits recently changed to fresh weight limits

Figure 2. Variability of the mean levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in (A) beef EU monitoring samples, (B) beef PQ samples, (C) EU monitoring samples chicken, and D) EU monitoring samples milk. Both lower [lb] and upper [ub] bound mean levels are presented, as well as the highest/lowest values per year (expressed in pg TEQ_WHO2005 g-¹fat).

Figure 3. Effect of the new lower reporting limits on the lower (A) and upper bound (B) PCDD/F levels in individual milk samples from 2007, 2008 and 2009 (using WHO-TEFs ₂₀₀₅).

Table 5. Effect of the reduction of LOQs on the median lower and upper bound levels for PCDD/Fs and the total TEQ in EU monitoring samples from 2007, 2008 and 2009 (expressed in pg TEQ_WHO2005 g⁻¹ fat).

		Median level (pg TEQ g^−1 fat)				Ratio new/old
Product	n	new LOQ lb	new LOQ ub	old LOQ lb	old LOQ ub	lb	ub
PCDD/Fs
Eggs	43	0.14	0.20	0.06	0.28	1.68	0.75
Milk	12	0.21	0.27	0.12	0.31	1.42	0.87
Pork	24	0.00	0.16	0.00	0.26	4.19	0.60
Chicken	24	0.02	0.16	0.01	0.27	2.12	0.62
Calf	12	0.17	0.24	0.10	0.30	1.64	0.82
Beef	16	0.23	0.30	0.15	0.34	1.59	0.89
Sheep	18	0.45	0.46	0.42	0.48	1.03	0.97
PCDD/Fs + DL-PCBs
Eggs	43	0.23	0.30	0.14	0.37	1.30	0.81
Milk	12	0.62	0.68	0.54	0.70	1.09	0.94
Pork	24	0.03	0.18	0.02	0.29	1.07	0.64
Chicken	24	0.06	0.20	0.05	0.31	1.09	0.67
Calf	12	0.49	0.56	0.41	0.62	1.16	0.91
Beef	16	0.68	0.73	0.59	0.78	1.13	0.95
Sheep	18	1.12	1.13	1.07	1.14	1.01	0.99

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