| Title: | Assessment of human exposure to benzene through foods from the Belgian market |
| Author(s): | Medeiros Vinci R; Jacxsens L; Van Loco J; Matsiko E; Lachat C; de Schaetzen T; Canfyn M; Van Overmeire I; Kolsteren P; De Meulenaer B; |
| Address: | "Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.03.044 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-1298 (Electronic) 0045-6535 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Benzene is a volatile organic compound known to be carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) and may be present in food. In the present study, 455 food samples from the Belgian market were analyzed for benzene contents and some possible sources of its occurrence in the foodstuffs were evaluated. Benzene was found above the level of detection in 58% of analyzed samples with the highest contents found in processed foods such as smoked and canned fish, and foods which contained these as ingredients (up to 76.21 mug kg(-1)). Unprocessed foods such as raw meat, fish, and eggs contained much lower concentrations of benzene. Using the benzene concentrations in food, a quantitative dietary exposure assessment of benzene intake was conducted on a national representative sample of the Belgian population over 15 years of age. The mean benzene intake for all foods was 0.020 mug kg bw d(-1) according to a probabilistic analysis. These values are below the minimum risk level for oral chronic exposure to benzene (0.5 mug kg bw d(-1))" |
| Keywords: | Belgium Benzene/*analysis *Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollutants/*analysis Food Contamination/*analysis Humans Probability; |
| Notes: | "MedlineMedeiros Vinci, Raquel Jacxsens, Liesbeth Van Loco, Joris Matsiko, Eric Lachat, Carl de Schaetzen, Thibault Canfyn, Michael Van Overmeire, Ilse Kolsteren, Patrick De Meulenaer, Bruno eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2012/04/10 Chemosphere. 2012 Aug; 88(8):1001-7. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.03.044. Epub 2012 Apr 5" |
