Chlorinated paraffins in infant foods from the Chinese market and estimated dietary intake by infants

Abstract

Food intake has been identified as a major route for infants to short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively), but evaluations of SCCPs and MCCPs exposure for infants via dietary sources are limited. Here, SCCPs and MCCPs were analyzed in three categories of commonly used infant foods from the Chinese market. The mean concentrations (range) of SCCPs in infant formulas, cereals, and purees were 7.95 (2.32–54.2), 4.26 (2.73–8.81), and 4.66 (1.33–8.43) ng g−1 fresh weight, respectively, and the mean (range) MCCP concentrations were 4.77 (1.67–20.9), 2.91 (1.21–8.24), and 1.89 (0.53–5.41) ng g−1 fresh weight, respectively. Chlorinated paraffins (CP) concentrations in whole milk samples were significantly higher than those detected in the other infant foods (p < 0.01). This study is the first to determine the occurrence of CPs in baby purees. The estimated margin of exposure (MOE) values (SCCPs-MOE and MCCPs-MOE) in this study were all greater than 1000, indicating that there were no health risks posed by CP contamination in infant foods. Principal component analysis indicated that foods of animal origin were more influenced by MCCPs than those of plant-origin, indicating different contamination patterns of CPs between food groups.