Dietary exposure to metals and other elements in the 2006 UK Total Diet Study and some trends over the last 30 years

Martin Rose (1) , Malcolm Baxter (1) , Nicola Brereton (1) , Christina Baskaran (2)

1 FERA
2 Food Standards Agency

Concentrations of 24 elements including metals in the 2006 UK Total Diet Study (TDS) have been measured and dietary exposures were estimated. Composite samples for the 20 TDS food groups (bread, fish, fruit etc) were collected from 24 UK towns and analysed for their levels of aluminium, antimony, arsenic, barium, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, copper, germanium, indium, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, selenium, strontium, thallium, tin and zinc. Concentrations of each of the elements in the food groups were lower than or similar to those reported in the previous TDS survey, conducted in 2000, with the exception of aluminium, barium and manganese. Dietary exposures to the 24 elements were estimated for UK consumers and compared with previous estimates made over the last 30 years, in order to examine any trends in exposure to these elements in the typical UK diet. Population exposures to the elements have generally declined over time, and exposures to most of these elements remain at low levels. No specific concerns for the health of consumers were identified, but a need for more information on aluminium and barium was identified, and dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic and to lead should continue to be reduced.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Martin Rose, Malcolm Baxter, Nicola Brereton, Christina Baskaran. Dietary exposure to metals and other elements in the 2006 UK Total Diet Study and some trends over the last 30 years. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2010, 27 (10), pp.1380. ⟨10.1080/19440049.2010.496794⟩. ⟨hal-00608410⟩