Risk assessment of antimony, barium, beryllium, boron, bromine, lithium, nickel, strontium, thallium and uranium concentrations in the New Zealand diet

Figures & data

Table 1. Analytical limits of reporting for different food matrices of 10 elements analysed in the New Zealand food supply.

Element	Limit of reporting by food matrix (mg/kg)
	Water	Beverages	Animal products, fruits and vegetables	High carbohydrate or fat foods
Antimony	0.0002	0.01	0.02	0.1
Barium	0.0001	0.001	0.002	0.01
Beryllium	0.0001	0.001	0.002	0.01
Boron	0.005	0.05	0.1	0.5
Bromine	0.005	0.1	0.2	1
Lithium	0.0002	0.002	0.004	0.02
Nickel	0.0005	0.01	0.02	0.1
Strontium	0.0005	0.005	0.01	0.05
Thallium	0.00005	0.0005	0.001	0.005
Uranium	0.00002	0.0002	0.0004	0.002

Table 2. New Zealand population cohorts considered in dietary exposure assessment for 10 elements (Pearson etal. 2018b).

Population cohort	Age range	Average body weight (kg)
Adult females	25 years and over	73.3
Adult females of Pacific Island ethnicity	15 years and over	88.1
Adult males	25 years and over	86.7
Adult males of Pacific Island ethnicity	15 years and over	98.1
Young adult males	19–-24 years	79.5
Teenage boys	11–14 years	54
Teenage girls	11–14 years	54
Children	5–6 years	23
Toddlers	1–3 years	13
Infants	6–12 months	9

Table 3. Health-based guidance values used for risk characterisation of exposures to 10 elements in the New Zealand diet.

Element	Healthbased guidancevalue(s) (µg/kg bw/day)	Source
Antimony	6	WHO (2003a)
Barium	20	WHO (2004)
Beryllium	2	WHO (2009a)
Boron	170	WHO (2009b)
Bromine	1000	JMPR (1989)
Lithium	2	US EPA (2009)
Nickel	2.8^a 1.1^b	EFSA (2015)
Strontium	130	WHO (2010)
Thallium	0.18	WHO (1996)
Uranium	0.6	WHO (2003b)

^aGeneral toxicity.

Reference point for systemic contact dermatitis in nickel-sensitised individual

Table 4. Estimated lower-bound to upper-bound mean dietary exposures for 10 toxic elements in New Zealand population cohorts.

Population cohort	Mean (Lower bound– Upper bound) dietary exposure (µg/kg bw/day)
	Antimony	Barium^a	Beryllium	Boron	Bromine	Lithium	Nickel	Strontium^a	Thallium	Uranium
Adult females	0.002–0.797	7.5	0.002–0.081	26.6–27.8	69-72	0.15–0.28	1.7–2.2	19	0.017–0.053	0.008–0.022
Adult females of Pacific Island ethnicity	0.002–0.662	6.5	0.002–0.068	19.1–20.4	63-65	0.14–0.23	1.4–1.8	16	0.016–0.046	0.006–0.018
Adult males	0.002–0.864	8.2	0.002–0.088	26.0–27.3	78-81	0.18–0.31	1.8–2.3	20	0.019–0.057	0.009–0.024
Adult males of Pacific Island ethnicity	0.002–0.784	7.4	0.002–0.080	22.4–23.8	78-80	0.17–0.28	1.5–2.0	18	0.018–0.053	0.008–0.022
Young adult males	0.003–0.981	9.2	0.002–0.100	26.4–28.1	94-97	0.23–0.37	1.8–2.4	23	0.019–0.063	0.010–0.027
Teenage boys	0.003–1.612	12.5	0.002–0.118	31.1–33.0	102-105	0.19–0.37	2.2–2.9	28	0.029–0.081	0.009–0.029
Teenage girls	0.004–0.961	10.9	0.001–0.098	29.1–30.5	81-83	0.18–0.33	2.0–2.5	24	0.029–0.071	0.010–0.026
Children	0.009–1.975	22.2	0.002–0.202	61.5–64.3	176-180	0.33–0.64	4.2–4.7	49	0.045–0.134	0.026–0.051
Toddlers	0.014–2.494	27.5	0.004–0.256	82.4–85.9	289-294	0.49–0.85	4.5–6.0	69	0.047–0.162	0.021–0.064
Infants	0.005–6.431	23.4	0.004–0.649	78.7–103.7	255-266	0.42–1.59	3.8–9.4	63	0.038–0.352	0.015–0.138

^aLower-bound and upper-bound means for barium and strontium rounded to the same value.

Figure 1. Characterised lower-bound– upper-bound mean exposure ranges for four elements where New Zealand population cohorts may exceed the health-based guidance value (marked by adotted line).

AF: Adult Female (25 years and over); AF(P): Adult Female– Pacific Island ethnicity (15 years and over); AM: Adult Male (25 years and over); AM(P): Adult Male– Pacific Island ethnicity (15 years and over); YM: Young Adult Male (19–24 years); TB: Teenage Boy (11–14 years); TG: Teenage Girl (11–14 years); C: Child (5–6 years); T: Toddler (1–3 years); I: Infant (6–12 months).

Table 5. Portion sizes, up to 100 g, for nickel-rich foods necessary to lead to an exceedance of the hypersensitivity reference point for adult females (25 years and above).

Food	Portion size (g) to exceed nickel reference point based on maximum reported concentration
Peanuts, whole	8
Peanut butter	18
Snack bars	62
Milk chocolate	62
Almonds	72
Muesli	77
Other cereals	78
Taro	87
Wheat biscuit cereal	89
Hummus	96
Bran flake cereal	99

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