Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish oil dietary supplements: Occurrence and human exposure in the UK

Alwyn R Fernandes (1) , Martin Rose (2) , Shaun White (2)

1 Central Science Laboratory
2 Central Science Laboratory

Commercially available fish oil supplements sourced from retail outlets in the UK as well as by mail order, were surveyed in 2000-2 for dioxin (PCDD/Fs) and PCB content. Sampled products were representative of market share. The WHO-TEQ values for these products ranged from 0.18 – 8.4 ng/kg for S PCDD/F and 1.1 – 41 ng/kg for S dioxin-like PCBs. The results suggest a downward trend in the levels of dioxins in fish oil supplements over the last decade, since levels for similar products ranged from 0.3 –10 ng/kg for S PCDD/F WHO-TEQ in 1996. Levels of ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) 7 PCBs in the current study ranged from 8.3 – 267 mg/kg. Subsequent to this survey, EU legislation has been introduced that includes a maximum limit of 2 ng/kg WHO-TEQ for dioxins in fish oil products for human consumption. 12 of the 33 products reported here would have exceeded this limit. Negotiations are in progress to incorporate dioxin-like PCBs into the EU regulations. When manufacturer-recommended doses were applied to the observed levels, the estimated upper bound human exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs from dietary intake of these products ranged from 0.02 to 7.1 pg WHO-TEQ/ kg bodyweight/ day for adults and 0.02 – 10 pg WHO-TEQ/ kg bodyweight/ day for school children. This level rises to 1.8 – 8.9 pg WHO-TEQ/ kg bodyweight/ day for adults and 1.4 – 14 pg WHO-TEQ/ kg bodyweight/ day for school children when combined with average exposure from the whole diet in 1997. Again subsequent to this survey, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) revised the UK TDI for mixtures of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs from 10 pg WHO-TEQ/kg bodyweight per day to 2 pg WHO-TEQ/kg bodyweight/day. This is in line with the Tolerable Weekly Intake of 14 pg WHO-TEQ/kg bodyweight set by the Scientific Committee on Food.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Alwyn R Fernandes, Martin Rose, Shaun White. Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish oil dietary supplements: Occurrence and human exposure in the UK. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2006, 23 (09), pp.939-947. ⟨10.1080/02652030600660827⟩. ⟨hal-00577582⟩