Organochlorines as contaminants in butter and other shortenings: occurrence and exposure assessment

Abstract

In the present work, experimental measurements were carried out on dietary fats purchased in stores or bought online and produced in different countries of the world. Shortenings of animal origin (lard, butter) or vegetable-made (margarine, coconut oil, hydrogenated palm/soybean oil) were selected. The concentrations of organochlorines (OC pesticides and PCBs) were measured to ascertain whether the level of these contaminants in food has decreased since they were banned and to assess the today consumer exposure to such xenobiotics. Analyses were carried out by GC-ECD and GC-MS according to the United Nations Environment Program on persistent organic pollutants. Organochlorines were detected in 85% of the samples analysed. The observed levels were not high (maximum value 5.54 ± 2.33 ng g⁻¹) and point out a slow decline over the last years. Butter from Europe was the most studied matrix showing HCB and 4,4′-DDE as the main organochlorines that were constantly detected above the limit of quantitation. This can be explained if the past use of the two pesticides is considered. Consumption data from the EFSA database were combined with the HCB and 4,4′-DDE concentrations measured in the present research to obtain the Estimated Daily Intakes (EDIs) of the two contaminants from butter. The comparison with the Tolerable Daily Intakes (TDIs) set by World Health Organization indicates that the observed EDIs are far below the TDIs, so allowing to conclude that the risk deriving from the intake of the investigated organochlorines through butter is acceptably low for European consumers. Results relating to some non-Aroclor PCBs detected in shortenings, such as PCB 47, which have recently been discovered to be released into the environment are also reported.

Keywords:

• Butter
• solid dietary fats
• organochlorine contaminants
• gas chromatography
• mass spectrometry
• consumption data and exposure assessment

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Lorenzo Posati for providing us with a sample of butter from the United Kingdom. This research received no external funding. CREA carries out research activities in the agri-food field under the supervision and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.