Dietary exposure to selected chemical contaminants in fish for the Danish population

ABSTRACT

The exposure to selected chemical contaminants from fish has been calculated for the Danish population, both for adults (15–75 years of age) and children (4–14 years of age). The Danish mean consumption of fish is 21 g person⁻¹ day⁻¹ for adults and 12 g person⁻¹ day⁻¹ for children. Fish consumption is the main food group contributor for exposure to mercury and dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCDD/F and DL-PCB) for the Danish population. Comparison of the mean exposure with the TDI or TWI values shows for these substances as well as for perfluorooctane sulphuric acid (PFOS) that the exposure is below the TDI/TWI values. However, even without taking other food groups into account, PCDD/Fs and DL-PCB exposure is close to the actual TWI-value. Calculation of the Margin of Exposure (MOE) for the sum of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDD) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) revealed fish consumption to be of low concern for the consumer health regarding these contaminants.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• PCDD/F and DL-PCB
• PAH4
• mercury
• PFOS
• sum of HBCDD
• margin of exposure (MOE)
• health based guidance values (HBGV)

Acknowledgments

Jens H Andersen is thanked for contribution to data collection.

Disclosure statement

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.