Temporal trend of bisphenol S occurrence in meat samples from 2008–2020 Canadian total diet study

Abstract

In our previous study, bisphenol S (BPS) was detected unexpectedly and at high levels in meat samples from 2016 and 2020 Canadian total diet study (TDS). In this study, samples of meat and meat products from 2008–2015 and 2017–2019 TDS were also analysed to investigate the consistency of BPS occurrence in meat and identify possible trends and provide some information on the potential sources for BPS in meat. BPS was detected again with the highest levels observed in samples of fresh pork (105 ng/g) and veal cutlets (140 ng/g) from the 2008 TDS. This indicates that the occurrence of BPS in meat is not a recent phenomenon but rather an existing one since 2008 or even earlier. BPS concentrations in meat samples from the 2008 to 2020 TDS varied significantly, e.g. 1.2–118 ng/g in roast beef, 1.8–140 ng/g in veal cutlets, but no trend was observed. The lack of trend for BPS over the period of 13 years (2008–2020) does not support the speculation that BPS is being used to replace BPA in food packaging, and sources other than food packaging may be possible and should be investigated for BPS.