Abstract
Dioxins and dioxin-like (DL) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are persistent organic pollutants that enter the body mainly by food intake and accumulate in the fat tissue of animals and humans. Foods of animal origin are the primary source of human exposure to dioxins. A small margin exists between current exposure levels in the human population and the levels causing biological effects. Dioxin and PCB monitoring programs for food and feeding stuff in most countries of the world, including many European Countries are currently inadequate. Better control of food production lines and food processing procedures is needed to minimize entry of dioxin to the food chain and will help to avoid dioxin contamination accidents. Therefore, stringent control of concentrations of these contaminants in food and feed is needed.
Highlights
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and certain dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls are a family of chemically-related lipophilic compounds characterized by similar toxicity
Human exposure to dioxins: The most important route for human exposure to PCDDs, PCDFs and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) is food consumption contributing over 90% of total exposure, with products of animal origin and fish making the greatest contribution to this exposure (Liem et al 2000)
The main source of milk contamination is animal feeds. Cows included, transfer these compounds to the food chain by ingestion of contaminated vegetables or soil. Their resistance to degradation and a high lipophilicity means that polychlorinated dioxinsfurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) may be accumulated into fat tissues from which they are transferred to milk during lactation period (Esposito et al, 2009)
Summary
Dioxins and dioxin-like (DL) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are persistent organic pollutants that enter the body mainly by food intake and accumulate in the fat tissue of animals and humans. Foods of animal origin are the primary source of human exposure to dioxins. A small margin exists between current exposure levels in the human population and the levels causing biological effects. Dioxin and PCB monitoring programs for food and feeding stuff in most countries of the world, including many European Countries are currently inadequate. Better control of food production lines and food processing procedures is needed to minimize entry of dioxin to the food chain and will help to avoid dioxin contamination accidents. Stringent control of concentrations of these contaminants in food and feed is needed
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