Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorodibenzofuran levels in cow milk samples, egg samples and meat in Finland

Abstract

To survey the levels of PCDD/F in Finnish foods, cow milk samples from the largest dairies, egg samples from the major producers and meat from the main slaughterhouses have been analyzed. For twenty whole milk samples supplied in cartons in June 1991 and stored for 14 days in a refrigerator, the total level of toxic equivalents, calculated on a wet weight basis using Nordic toxic equivalents, had a mean of 38 pg TEO/l (range 18 – 78 pg TEQ/l). This corresponds to an average intake of 15 pg TEQ/day for a person consuming 400 ml milk/day on an average. The cow milk analyzed from glass bottles showed a mean of 29 pg TEQ/l (range < 10 – 67 pg TEQ/l). Migration from the carton container and/or other treatment of the milk in connection with the packing process made a 30% contribution to the total PCDD/F content of the cow milk. The results for milk samples in cartons and glass bottles, as expressed on a fat basis were 1.17 pg TEQ/g (range 0.57 – 2.48 pg TEQ/g) and 0.83 pg TEQ/g (range <0.5 – 1.80 pg TEQ/g), respectively. For 20 pooled egg samples the total level of toxic equivalents calculated on whole product basis had a mean of 0.12 pg TEQ/g (range 0.023 – 0.427 pg TEQ/g). This corresponds to an average intake of 3.9 pg TEQ/day for a person consuming 33 g egg per day on an average. For twenty pork and twenty bovine meat samples, the levels of PCDD/F were very low and below the detection limit (<0.5 pg/g fat) with the exception of some detectable traces of 2,3,7,8-Cl4DF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-Cl7DD and OCDD. These results showed that, at least in summertime when cows are outdoors and eat fresh hay, PCDD/F concentrations in Finnish cow milk are low. This conclusion is supported by the results from the meat samples which showed that beef contained notably low levels of PCDD/F. On some farms chicken feed contains fish products in addition to corn. This is probably the reason why the level of PCDD/F in egg varied but was still reasonably low.