THE FATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS IN THE FOOD-CHAIN

This paper reviews the major sources of industrial environmental pollutants that may give rise to organic contaminants in foods, indicates which foods tend to be most frequently found to be contaminated and summarises available data on levels of occurrence. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalic acid esters, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organic phosphates are widespread environmental contaminants which have all been detected in foods. Estimates of exposure to these contaminants from total diet and other studies are summarised. Some pollutants such as volatile halocarbons and benzene tend to only occur as localised contaminants for which targeted monitoring of foods is necessary. The most difficult area is regarded as the detection of previously unrecognised contaminants in foods for which some possible approaches are described.