Levels and patterns of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in foodstuffs of animal origin from Chinese markets and implications of dietary exposure

Shuai Sun; Rong Cao; Xianbo Lu; Yichi Zhang; Yuan Gao; Jiping Chen; Haijun Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116344

Levels and patterns of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in foodstuffs of animal origin from Chinese markets and implications of dietary exposure

Environ Pollut. 2020 Dec 29:273:116344. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116344. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shuai Sun¹, Rong Cao², Xianbo Lu², Yichi Zhang², Yuan Gao², Jiping Chen², Haijun Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Sciences for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Sciences for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Sciences for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China. Electronic address: hjzhang@dicp.ac.cn.

PMID: 33453698
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116344

Abstract

The concentrations and distribution profiles of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in representative animal origin foodstuffs randomly collected from markets located in five regions of the Chinese mainland during 2018-2019. The collected foodstuffs were classified into 11 pools consisting of pork, beef, mutton, poultry meat, chicken eggs, pure milk, mixed animal fat, fish, shrimp, shellfish, and cephalopods. The levels of tri-to octa-CDD/Fs (∑PCDD/Fs), tri-to deca-CBs (∑PCBs), and WHO-TEQ in the collected animal foods were found to be in the ranges of 0.4-14.3 pg/g, 0.04-2.8 ng/g, and 0.013-0.75 pg/g on a fresh weight basis, respectively. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in most of the animal food groups from coastal regions were obviously higher than those from inland regions. Remarkable differences in the homologue and congener distribution of PCDD/Fs and PCBs were observed between terrestrial and aquatic animal foods. The dietary intakes of WHO-TEQ via consumption of animal foods by a standard adult in the five regions were estimated to be in the range of 3.57-19.63 pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight/month. Consumption of the aquatic animal food and pork categories contributed most of the estimated dietary intakes of WHO-TEQ in the coastal regions, whereas consumption of beef, mutton, and milk made up the primary contributions in Northwest region.

Keywords: Animal food; Dietary intake; Dioxin; PCBs.