Environmental Chemical Contaminants in Food: Review of a Global Problem.

Lesa A Thompson,Wageh S Darwish

doi:10.1155/2019/2345283

Abstract

Contamination by chemicals from the environment is a major global food safety issue, posing a serious threat to human health. These chemicals belong to many groups, including metals/metalloids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), radioactive elements, electronic waste, plastics, and nanoparticles. Some of these occur naturally in the environment, whilst others are produced from anthropogenic sources. They may contaminate our food—crops, livestock, and seafood—and drinking water and exert adverse effects on our health. It is important to perform assessments of the associated potential risks. Monitoring contamination levels, enactment of control measures including remediation, and consideration of sociopolitical implications are vital to provide safer food globally.

Highlights

Chemical contamination is a global food safety issue
The source of contaminants may be the environment. This is the case for metals such as lead and mercury, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
The Codex Alimentarius describes international food standards, setting permitted maximum levels (ML) for contaminants in foods based on risk assessment and scientific evidence [20]

Summary

Introduction

There are many potentially toxic substances in the environment which may contaminate foods consumed by people. It is important to note that such monitoring cannot completely preclude supply of contaminated food to consumers The role of such programmes is to check that food and water contamination levels are below those deemed “unsafe.” To this end, many governmental and nongovernmental organizations strive through risk assessments to ascertain what levels of contamination are acceptable for products destined for human consumption. The Codex Alimentarius describes international food standards, setting permitted maximum levels (ML) for contaminants in foods based on risk assessment and scientific evidence [20]. Recommendations are made for standards such as provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) or provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) These are usually calculated based on chronic toxicity data, and it may be useful to consider acute reference doses (ARfDs). This committee considers reports from the FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), which estimates MRLs and acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) for people [24]

Sources of Contaminants from the Environment to Food and Water

Risk Assessment and Monitoring

Remediation

Findings

Summary and Conclusions