See also: Related OurFood News
[1]
The high levels of dioxins that have shown up in small amounts of German produce have been traced to a single fats manufacturer, Harles and Jentzsch. Another feed producer based in Damme/Germany has now been traced more than 15 days the begin of investigations. The company had tried to conceal his connections with Harles Jentzsch. Now, about 900 farms have to be closed and wait for dioxin tests. Hans Schenkel, a professor of agricultural chemistry of the University of Stuttgart, said the pattern of dioxins in the fat were similar to dioxins found in kaolin which might be involved in the latest food poisoning. Kaolin can be used up to 3% in animal feed to improve the flow during pumping when moving the animal feed from one store to another and caused a dioxin scandal in 1999. Kaolin is also used to sort out spoiled potatoes and potatoes unsuitable for French fries. The speculations of professor Schenkel were dissipated by investigations of the officials of Münster/Germany.
The chemical and veterinary investigations office of Münster came to the conclusion that residues of the Biodiesel oil production were responsible for the ongoing dioxin contamination of European food chain. The office found that the pattern of the dioxins found in fat, feed and eggs was similar to samples of the Biodiesel refining byproducts.
- 1976 - The Seveso accident.
- 1999 - Dioxin contaminated feed from Belgium
- June 1999 - German kaolin with high level of dioxin had also been added to animal feed in Austria and Germany.
- 2003 - Backery waste of Thuringia/Germany with high dioxin levels was used as feed.
- 2004 - Several farms were closed in Germany because of dioxin in feed using industrial potato peeling contaminated with poisoned kaolin. [2]
- 2008 - Irish pork with high dioxin levels September until December 2008 about 4000 Tonnes exported to Germany due to feed contaminated with discarded foods which were dried using fuel with high dioxin content. Dioxin levels of some samples of Irish pork exceeded the WHO-TEQ by 2500 times.
- 2010 - May 2010: Organic eggs were contaminated with dioxin from feed using maize from Ukraine.
- April/December 2010 - High dioxin in eggs, poultry, liquid egg yolk made of these eggs were used for bakery products and mayonnaise. Contaminated feed has also sold for dairy cattle farms.
German food safety is discredited by the failure of the HACCP concept and failure of certification. Thilo Bode from Foodwatch accuses the German government to have no interests to impose further burdens on feed mills in order to avoid impairments on the export of German meat products. [3] [4]
The chairman of the veterinarians of the German Association of Animal Welfare, Prof. Thomas Blaha, says that eggs and meat with high levels of dioxin do not need to be discarded. They may be made fit for human consumption mixing it with eggs or meat with low dioxin levels. So high dioxin levels come down to the permissible range of contamination. This is absolutely against Good Manufacturing Practice and HACCP basic principles and contravenes ethics of clean and sound foods from farm to fork. Professor Blaha is director for epidemiology of the Veterinary University of Hannover and reflects the careless way German veterinary and food authorities handle safety issues. This supports the accusations of Foodwatch against the German government and the German food safety certification systems. [4]
DEKRA, a food certification system, recently certified the Harles und Jentzsch company which was responsible for selling industrial fats and feed with high dioxin levels. The certifier examining the flow chart of the production should have noted the lacking of a Control Point (CP) of raw ware and its safety. A series of food scandals, primarily linked to the origin of raw ware point to the serious failure of German certification systems. [5] [6]
German dioxin eggs were used for the production of liquid egg yolk for bakery products. In UK. Tesco recalled its cakes produced with German egg yolk.
EU Commissioner says that the German eggs were sold to the Netherlands for the production of egg yolk which went to mayonnaise and cake production. [7]
Mayonnaise and sauces have a high content of egg yolk and are therefore products which should be avoided by the consumer. Due to a shelf life of 6 month or more, these products will remain hazardous for a long period.
According to a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner there are indications of high level of illegal activity. European poultry, eggs and pork industry is to be blamed for closing eyes on safety issues. The consumer and the export partners cannot trust any more on German and European food, unless serious failures of the safety system are removed. More laws will be of no help at all Harles and Jentzsch began selling the dioxin-tainted fat in March, and continued the shipping despite being aware of high dioxin analysis results of tests. The contamination in Germany was discovered in December 2010 by local government inspectors randomly testing food. [8]
According to the European Commission health spokesman, Frederic Vincent, some eggs had been found to contain up to five times the legal European Union limit for dioxin, which can cause cancer, but those levels would not pose a risk to human health, other tests found eggs with 77 times the legal limit for dioxin.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) was not concerned with the consumer safety, because German dioxin-eggs had been mixed with noncontaminated eggs to make pasteurized liquid egg in the Netherlands and sold in the UK. The Mixing brought the poison in the liquid egg down to levels allowed by law. [9]
Such statements of the UK FSA, together with German veterinary official Prof. Thomas Blaha undermine the premise that food products should be made of suitable raw materials and should not be made of diluted poisons, such as happened in 1999 where discarded motor oil was use as feed in Belgium, or sewage sludge in French animal feed. Dioxin and other poisons accumulate in human body throughout decades. Mixing foods high in aflatoxins is also considered "legal" in nuts and cereals to get toxins down to limits.
Every effort to keep such poisons out of food should be of top priority in any Good Manufacturing Practice system. Such mixing may be considered "legal" but does not correlate with the perceptions of the consumer.
These criminal activities cannot be avoided with more laws and restrictions. It is a matter of integrity of the directors of food businesses which deliberately use loopholes to introduce poisonous material not intended for food production. The directors of the whole European food production chain should be blamed for maintaining a low surveillance of their suppliers and the failure of their own safety GPM and HACCP system related to this matter. A mayonnaise producer, as an example, must control his supplier of liquid egg yolk to see if he controls eggs used for his production. With such a conscious self-monitoring system dioxin eggs should have been detected earlier than 9 month.
Dioxin, the endless story
Dioxin is since long time known as one of the strongest poisons which man is able to produce. It causes cancer of liver and lung, interferes in the immune system resulting in a predisposition to infectious diseases and embrional misgrowth.
Dioxins comprise polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Environmentally persistent dioxins and dioxin-like compounds include 29 congeners of dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) with similar toxic effects, their quantification commonly expressed as toxic equivalent units according to their varying potency. While the amount of those compounds in the environment has declined since the late 1970s, there is a continued concern because of their accumulation in the food chain, particularly in animal fat. In 2002 the European Commission prescribed a list of actions to further reduce the presence of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs and later introduced action and maximum levels [10]
At the beginning of the 20th century the production of chlorine splitting
sodium chloride by Dow Chemical Midland,USA free chlorine
could be used for many new compounds like pesticides, plastics such as
PVC,chlorine bleaching of paper and many other sources. Dioxins are also built
as unwanted side reactions during the production of chlorinated products.
When these new compounds are burned as waste, chlorine atoms combine with carbon resulting dioxins. Dioxin is also originated during combustion,
mainly by heat below 780° It is therefore found in the atmosphere
and in the fallout in rain. A main source of dioxin is used discarded motor
oil and in some geological formations
like kaolinite.
In the press dioxin was cited in relation to the accident at the chemical
plant of Hoffmann-LaRoche in Seveso, Italy. Due to an explosion a great
amount of 2,3,7,8 TCDD dioxin was spread over the city of Seveso in 1976.
Limits for dioxin expressed as tolerable daily intake are given in picogram 1
pg=10-12g :
- Germany 1 picogram (10-12g) per Kg body weight
- Netherland4 pg (4X10-12g) per Kg body weight
- Canada 10 pg (10X10-12)g per Kg body weight
- FDA from USA 0,03pg (0,03X10-12g) per Kg body weight
- Environmental administration EPA from USA 0,006pg
(0,006X10-12g) per Kg body weight
Please note that sometimes dioxin values are expressed in nanograms.
One nanogram=10-9g.
Today emission of smoke stacks has been reduced from 400g i-TE/year in 1988
down to 2g i-TE/year.According to German regulations emission of smoke stacks
over 5000 m3/h the emission should be reduced to 0,1 ng i-TE/ m3.
Sludge from industrial wastewater should not exceed 100 ng i-TE/kg of dry
matter according to German regulation.
Soil of playground for children should not exceed 100 ng i-TE/kg of dry matter.
Soil of residential neighborhood should be kept under 1000 ng i-TE of dry
matter according to the List of Berlin 1996.
People who have been exposed to high levels of dioxin have developed chloracne, a skin disease marked by severe acne-like pimples. Studies have also shown that chemical workers who are exposed to high levels of dioxins have an increased risk of cancer. Other studies of highly exposed populations show that dioxins can cause reproductive and developmental problems, and an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. More research is needed to determine the long-term effects of low-level dioxin exposures on cancer risk, immune function, and reproduction and development.
Dioxins produce cancer acting through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) gene in conjunction with the receptor's binding partner, aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT). This gene produces a protein which interrupts the signal transmission by the AhR by competing with the ARNT for binding to the arylhydrocarbon receptor.
TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) modifying its gene expression and toxicity. The AHR repressor (AHRR) inhibits AHR signaling through a mechanism described by Evans and colleagues 2008. The authors describe a mechanism of AHRR action involving "transrepression" of AHR signaling through protein-protein interactions. [11]
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR) contains tumor suppressor genes. Zudaire and colleagues 2008 report that in case of cancers of colon, breast, lung, stomach, cervix, and ovary downregulation of The AHRR mRNA is downregulated with DNA hypermethylation as the regulatory mechanism of AHRR gene silencing. [12]
The AHR regulates responses to environmental chemicals. Hahn and colleagues 2009 describe how AHR may repress AHRR transcription, resulting in unbridled AHR activity, and the way how the AHRR may exert AHR-independent effects.and AHR-regulated malignancy. [13] [14]
According to Nancy and colleagues 2007, the aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor responds to environmental stress such as oxygen partial pressure, light intensity, and pollutants such as tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) which is the most potent Ah receptor suppressor. TCDD has immunosuppressive effects. Activation of the Ah receptor by TCDD leads to profound immune suppression involved in the generation of regulatory T cells.
Chemical structure of dioxins
There are about 210 dioxins and related compounds called furanes. They are classified in two classes of chemical compounds: The class of the polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins and the class of the dibenzofuranes. The difference between
dioxins and furanes is that some compounds have an oxigen bridge, others don't. Both classes of compounds are usually called dioxins.
The most poisoning dioxin is 2,3,7,8-TCDD
(tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)(described by Sandemann et all. in 1957) therefore equivalents are calculated in relation
to this compound as only 17 of the 210 dioxins and furanes have a chlorine atom at the position 2,3,7 and 8 being therefore strongly toxic and are
expressed as Toxicity Equivalence (TE)
TCDD is classified as carcinogenic class I which is the highest step in the
classification of the IARC (International Agency of Research of Cancer).
1 ng TE means that there is a mixture of PCDD and PCDF present which
corresponds to 1 nanogram of 2,3,7,8 TCDD.
Dioxins accumulate in liver an fat tissue and it takes about 10 years for the body to reduce half of the amount of once stored dioxins.
Other dioxins furanes and related compounds presenting toxicity:
PCDDs (Polychlorinated dibenzodioxin)
PCDFs (Polychlorinated dibenzofurans)
PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)
Dioxins are very difficult to be analysed. PCB Polychlorated biphenil
are most all the time present together
with dioxins. PCBs are much more easy and is does not take so much time to
analise as dioxins. Therefore PCB control with GC/MSD or HRGC/HRMS is used as
indicator for dioxins. In milk a contamination of 100 ng/g of PCB in fat is an
indicator of high dioxin values. In egg yolk a maximum of 60 ng/g in fat
stands for tolerable values of Dioxins
The most toxic compound is 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). It is used as a reference of the toxicity of other dioxins. The liver microsomal P4501A1 enzyme oxygenates dioxins. The enzyme is encoded by the CYP1A1 gene. Expression of CYP1A1 is increased by the cytosolic aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) together with hydrocarbon nuclear translocator (ARNT) and xenobiotic responsive element (XRE) Foetuses and infants are most sensitive to dioxins. [15]
Dioxins activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which is linked to tissue-specific toxicity phenotypes. Dioxins are involved in developmental or tissue regeneration processes, impaired prostate development and hydronephrosis in mouse, reduced midbrain blood flow and malformation in zebrafish embryos and adult zebrafish, and signaling by receptors for inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in tissue-specific endpoints of dioxin toxicity. [16]
Burns and colleagues 2010 found that blood serum levels of dioxins and PCBs were inversely associated with height z scores and height velocity (cm growth/year). The authors concluded that dioxins and PCBs are associated with reduced growth during the peripubertal period and compromise adult body mass, stature, and health. [17]
[18]
The research project "Foodborne exposure to environmental contaminants" (LExUKon) of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) have calculated the amounts of cadmium, lead, mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which consumers usually absorb with foods. According to the study, the main sources for cadmium intake are vegetables and cereals. Lead is primarily absorbed by consumers via beverages and cereals. Methylmercury is mainly contained in fish, whereas dairy products and meat are determining for dioxins and PCBs.
The intake of environmental contaminants through foodstuffs was determined for the general population, taking into account different consumption habits as well as individual lifestyles. It turned out, for instance, that consumers eat more fish as they grow older and hence absorb, amongst other things, more methylmercury than younger people.
Eating more vegetables and cereal increases the intake of cadmium which is short over 1,5 microg/kg bodyweight/week, which corresponds to 58% of the Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) of 2,5 microg/kg bodyweight. People with high vegetable and cereals eating habits have an intake of 2,35 microg cadmium /kg bodyweight, which is near the upper rage of the TWI set by the European Food Safety Authority.
Beverages and vegetables are responsible for high intake of lead, which is calculated to be 3,7 microg/kg bodyweight for the average consumer, and 5,1 microg/kg bodyweight/week for people with high consume of this food group, corresponding to 1,2 and 0,9 MoE, respectively, for kidney toxicity, and 2,8 and 2,1 MOE respectively for systolic blood pressure.
Intake of methylmercury is related to fish and milk products. The intake of mercury and methylmercury is calculated to be 0,49 microg/kg bodyweight for the average consumer, and 0,9 microg/kg bodyweight/week for people with high consume of this food group, which is 21% and 37%, respectively, of the limit value of 2,4 microg/kg bodyweight set by JECFA.
Dairy products and meat are responsible for the exposition to PCDD/F and dioxi-like PCB (dl-PCB). Dioxin and dl-PCB intake is calculated to be 12,7-16,9 picog/kg bodyweigh/weekt for the average consumer, which is 90-121% of the limit value of 14 picog/kg bodyweight set by SCF.
Not dioxin-like PCB (ndl-PCB) exposition is 15-21,7 nanog/kg bodyweight of average consumer. This is 75-109% of the TDI of 20 nanog/kg bodyweight set by the WHO.
Specific population groups and high consume of special food groups reach, or exceed intake of toxicological limits. The report stresses that dietary supplements may increase the calculated intake of cadmium, lead,mercury dioxins and PCB. [19]
Deng and colleagues 2010 found polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in agricultural soils near two municipal solid waste incinerators in Shanghai ranging from 71.32 to 3,881.44 pg g(-1), whereas the highest concentrations were found approximately 1,000 m from the incinerators. The authors stress that the PCDD/F pollutions in soil result from emissions of the municipal solid waste incinerators. [20]
Ortiz and colleagues 2010 developed a silicon-based and carbon-based solid adsorbent system to reduce dioxins from fish oils. The authors report a reduction of dioxins ranging from 99% to 10% without affecting nutritional properties. [21]
Eggs and poultry meat of German farms were found contaminated with dioxin in late December 2010. Veterinary authorities suspect that technical oil such as discarded engine lubricating oil was included in poultry feed sold by a company in Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany with border to Denmark.
Around 1000 farms raising egg-laying chicken, pigs and turkey were closed after double the permitted levels of dioxin in eggs and chicken were found in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). More than 8,000 laying hens had to be culled. German animal feed manufacturer Harles & Jentzsch bought the dioxin contaminated oil from a Dutch supplier. The oil was delivered by Petrotech AG, a plant in Emden (Germany) which produces bio-Diesel from palm oil, soy oil, rape oil and used deep-frying fats.
The incident of Ukrainian organic maize used in organic poultry feed in April-May highly contaminated with dioxins is now topped by technical oil used as feed ingredient in Germany. This demonstrates that European animal feed industry fails to follow basic safety rules. Veterinary authorities do not cope with their obligations to supervise the "farm to fork" chain. [22]
In June 1999 Europe was confronted by the news of the scandal of dioxin in Belgian animal feed. Eggs, meat of hen, pigs and beef were not safe.
Belgian animal feed had been enriched with old used engine oil with high level of dioxin.
As Belgic exported the contaminated meat as animal feed all over Europe was
to be considered as bearing PCBs and dioxins.
Later on Swiss animal feed was also found to be contaminated by dioxins.
This was caused by certain charges containing kaolinite from Germany.
Kaolinite is part of earth which is used in the production on porcelain. As
3% in animal feed it is used to improve the flow during pumping when moving
the animal feed from one store to another. German kaolin with high level of
dioxin had also been added to animal feed in Austria and Germany. In June
1999 animal feedings with added kaolinite were found to have 1,5 to 30 pg
i-TE/g resulting in a contamination of German turkeys of 30,6 pg i-TE/g fat.
According to German regulation from 9.6.99 a maximum of Dioxin equivalents
should be observed in following foods:
Eggs maximum of 4 pg i-TE/g fat
Poultry maximum of 5 pg i-TE/g fat
Milk maximum of 3 pg i-TE/g fat
Beef maximum of 6 pg i-TE/g fat
Pork
maximum of 2 pg i-TE/g fat
French animal feed now found to carry dioxins tells that there is still very
much wrong. Everything is being used to feed animals. As calcium is needed to
feed cows, calcium oxide from washing industrial smoke stack combustion gases
had been added to citric pellets from Brazil which were fed to German cows.
Great amount of milk had to be discarded because of high level of dioxin.
Even sewage sludge resulting from industrial waste water treatment is being
added to animal feed, often without separation between the waste water and the
normal sewage system.
In 1991 the use of sewage sludge from industrial waste water for animal feed was forbidden by the EU but this has not always been followed. In 1998/1999
French knackeries and gelatine factories as well as Dutch companies had
sewage sludge from industrial waste water mixed with animal feed. Pigs and chicken fed with it were also sold in Germany.
Sewage sludge concentrates
heavy metals, dioxin, antibiotics and resistant bacteria. [23]
Sewage sludge is still being used in France (November 1999) as ingredient to
animal feed disregarding EU regulation of 1991. This confirms the deep
distrust of the consumer confidence on public institutions.
[24]
Dioxins increase the risk of cancer. Levels above the EU standard of 3 pg TEQ
were found in May 2010 in German organic eggs by the Association for
controlled alternative husbandary, which maintains the label: "Controlled by
KAT". The whole production chain did not comply with the HACCP and ISO 9000
principles, questioning organic eggs and their seals of approval.
Investigations found that the organic feed from the Dutch Harreveld facility of
ForFarmers were the source of the dioxin. Organic corn for the production of
the feed imported from the Ukraine could be traced as the primary source of the
contamination. Incoming controls have failed. It is a sign of failure of the
quality system when toxic food is found at the end of the chain and hazzards are
not identified with incoming controls of the Ukrainian corn. Organic eggs are
continuously on the headlines of food scandals. [25]
[26]
In 1999, Belgium had a dioxin crisis caused by dioxin-contaminated feed being fed
to livestock. The source of the contamination was a Belgian at-rendering company,
where transformer oil with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and
dioxins was used to manufacture animal foods sale of Belgian poultry and eggs and
all food items containing more than 2% egg product DeVriesDioxininEggs2006
De Vries and colleagues 2006 found that dioxin levels are higher in eggs from
free-ranging chickens than in eggs from chickens kept inside. Free-ranging
chickens ingest soil and eat insects and worms, all of which contain
environmental dioxins. Flock size influences the behaviour of the animals.
Small flocks are outside most of the time whereas large flocks tend to remain
inside. The uptake of dioxin-contaminated soil or insects taken up varies
accordingly. The authors say that large Dutch farms with more than 1500 laying
hen have egg dioxin levels below the EU standard of 3 pg TEQ, while organic
farms with small flocks present unacceptably high egg dioxin levels because
the animals spend most of the time outside.
In Lower Saxony state, 28% of all free-range eggs produced in the last two years
were above European Union limits for dioxin levels, because hens were allowed to
roam on land contaminated with the chemicals. [27] [10]
Dioxin and furan congeners comprised between 30% and 74% of the total concentrations depending on food or feed group, while mono-ortho PCBs comprised between 15% and 45% of the dioxin-like PCBs. The highest mean levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food expressed on fat basis were observed for "liver and products thereof from terrestrial animals" and on whole weight basis for "fish liver and products thereof". In feed the highest levels were found in "fish oil". An overall 8% of the samples exceeded different maximum levels and a further 4% exceeded some action levels.
European animal feed directive
Forbidden Industrial waste water sludge is forbidden as animal feed.
All components of sewage remain are not allowed to be added to animal feed even
if they were submitted to any technological procedure.
Exception Allowed is process Water which come out of closed circuits and which does not
contain substances which are not allowed for animal feed. In 1999 faeces were
found in French animal feed with added sewage. Recycled oils and fats are allowed
as animal feed by way of exception under
the control of an HACCP system.
Unfortunately many industrial waste water sludges are being declared as
process water evading the European directive.
To conter the loss of the consumers confidence and to restore the ability of the
public veterinary and food control to do their job Antony Burgmanns Chairman of Unilever NV, Rotterdam
says ( 14.11.99) that the creation of an European Control System like the US
FDA will be necessary[28].
Dioxin in foods
Low levels of dioxin from environment are present in vegetables and all other
kind of foods. The amount of environmental dioxin is not relevant, excluding the
region of Seveso and some parts of Serbian.
Eggs, milk, beef and fish all over Europe can have high amount of dioxin
when animal feed with dioxin had been fed.
As dioxin accumulates in fatty tissue it is possible to reduce the intake of
dioxin by eating less greasy fatty food. Therefore veterinary officials claim
analytical checks on dioxin and PCBs when the food bears more than 2% of
fat on exports from Belgium.
Despite the criminal procedures on the scandal of dioxin contaminated animal
feed from Belgium the WHO reports decreasing levels of dioxins in worldwide
human blood plasma. This is told to be a result of efforts to reduce dioxin
in environment.
So mother's milk in Germany being reported in 1985 as average of 29,6 ng
i-TE/kg fat has decreased to an average of 15,9 ng i-TE/kg fat in 1994.
BSE problems in Great Britain, dioxin in Belgian foods caused gigantic financial
losses to the involved industry and commerce. It disregarding laws and good
manufacturing practice does not bring wealth. It soon or later ends in scandals.
It should be a lesson to all who want to earn easy money without regarding
safety and public health. Industry,great retailers and last but not least the
consumer should help to keep food safe paying appropriate prices to their
suppliers avoiding price battles which end on outlaw practices.
The WHO Consultation of May 25-29, in Geneva, Switzerland regarding the health risk of Dioxins[29] shows that the most important amount of dioxins
intake resulting from food (90% of total human exposure to dioxins) has been reduced about half of the former values due to increased emission
reducing activities. Food born dioxins are found mainly in animal fat. That
is why vegetarian food becomes more attractive. But remember: Supplementation of vegetarian diets with B12 vitamin from drugstore is important to avoid undersupply.
According to the consultation of WHO the contamination of food is primarily caused by deposition of emissions from various sources (like waste incineration
and production of chemicals) on farmland and waterbodies followed by
bioaccumulation up terrestrial and aquatic food
chains. Other sources may include contaminated feed for cattle, chicken and
farmed fish so what has happened lately with Belgian animal feed, improper
application of sewage sludge, flooding of pastures, waste effluents and certain
food technologies.
Tolerable daily intake (TDI)
The WHO in December 1990 in the Netherlands established a tolerable daily intake
(TDI) of 10 pg/kg by weight for TCDD.
The consultation concerning health risk of dioxins in May 1998, Geneva
re-evaluated the TDI as an upper range of the TDI of 4 pg TEQ/kg by weight
should be considered a maximal tolerable intake on a provisional basis and
that the ultimate goal is to reduce human intake levels below 1 pg TEQ/kg
bw/day. In Germany the human exposure to TCDD is supposed to be only 45% of
the limit of 1 pg TEQ/kg bw/day.
The consultation however recommended that every effort should be made to
limit environmental releases of dioxin and related compounds to the extent
feasible in order to reduce their presence in the food chains, thereby
resulting in continued reduction in human body burdens. Efforts to reduce the
exposure of more highly exposed sub-populations should be undertaken. These
efforts bear their price and this should be honored by commerce and by the consumer. Someone has to pay for it. So honest prices for good honest raw
materials to reduce risk in food.
Toxic Equivalents (TEQ) and Toxicity equivalency factors (TEF)
The European Centre for Environment and Health of the World Health Organization (WHO-ECEH) and the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) the toxic equivalency (TEQ) concept. To arrive at a TDI expressed as TEQ, a composite uncertainty factor of 10 was recommended. By applying this uncertainty factor a TDI range of 1-4 pg TEQs/kg body weight was established. [30]
The presence of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs is expressed as toxic equivalents (TEQ) after multiplication of congener-specific concentration levels with toxicity equivalency factors (TEF) developed based on their relative toxicity compared to 2,3,7,8-TCDD. The current European legislation is based on TEFs set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1998 with the results expressed as TEQWHO98. New TEFs were suggested in 2005 with the results expressed as TEQWHO05. [10]
Accidental exposure to dioxin
Accidental exposures had taken place in Seveso and fires in PCB filled electrical equipment, that is why PCBs are being changed in such equipments.
Some foods were also accidently contaminated such as an edible oil Yusho (Japan)
and Yu-Cheng (Taiwan). Other heavy exposure to dioxins took place in Vietnam
resulting from aerial
spraying of forests with agent orange (TCDD) contaminating airforce personal
and inhabitants of Vietnam.
Three important regulation apply from 1 March 2007:
Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 sets maximum levels for specific contaminants in
foodstuffs. [31] Regulation 1882/2006 sets out the methods
testers must use in sampling and analysis for the control of nitrate levels in
lettuce and spinach. [32] Regulation 1883/2006, deals with
sampling and analysis methods for determining the levels of dioxins and
dioxin-like PCBs in specific foodstuffs.[33]
Much attention is given to mycotoxins, such as setting limits on
deoxynivalenol and zearalenone, including cereal bran marketed for direct
human consumption and for germination.
The limits of lead in cows milk is extended to sheep and goat milk and their
products like cheese. The maximum level of lead in fish was risen from 200 mg/kg to 400 mg/kg to comply with the value of the Codex Alimentarius.
The limit on levels of cadmium found in the liver and kidney has been extended
to include horse meat.
[34]
The naturally occurring mercury content of fish in the world's oceans, a
source of food for humans, is so low that it does not pose a health risk. This
does not apply, however, to species on top of the food chain such as
swordfish, the Atlantic halibut or certain species of shark which are exposed
to high concentrations, mature slowly and have a long life. These fish may
show a rather high mercury content under "natural" conditions. Therefore, in
Germany maximum levels of 1mg/kg were laid down for mercury concentrations in
fisheries products as early as 1975 to protect consumers' health.
Corresponding provisions at EU level were stipulated in 1993. Since April
2002, maximum levels for lead and cadmium in various foodstuffs such as
cereals, vegetables, fruits, additives, meat and fisheries products have been
applied EU-wide to protect human health. These maximum levels are also
stipulated in Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 [31]. When lead, cadmium
and mercury levels were determined in the course of the annual food
monitoring, only a small share of food samples exceeded the maximum levels for
the heavy metals listed above.
Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are also environmental contaminants.
Dioxins are unwanted and unavoidable by-products which must be minimised. They
are mainly released through certain industrial thermal or combustion processes,
in particular from sintering installations, metal production and residential
fireplaces or woodstoves. Dioxins were not and are not produced intentionally. In
contrast, PCBs were manufactured for a specific purpose, mainly as non-burning,
non-conductive viscous liquids in transformers and hydraulics. Pollution legacies
are the main source of dioxin and PCB emissions. Some compounds of these unwanted
substances are chemically very stable, particularly toxic and persistent. Both
groups of substances accumulate in human and animal fatty tissue. People
generally absorb these harmful substances by eating food containing animal
fat.
In order to protect consumers, mandatory maximum levels (limit values) for
PCBs in various foodstuffs produced from animals were already adopted in 1988. These
national limit values were supplemented in 2002 by Europe-wide mandatory maximum
levels (limit values) and voluntary action values for dioxins and, since 2006,
for dioxin-like PCBs in various foodstuffs. [35]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (December 2009) reduces the need for
federal taxpayers to fund the cleanup of environmental releases. The agency
has identified three additional industry sectors for which it will begin the
regulatory development process for any necessary financial assurance
requirements: the chemical manufacturing industry; the petroleum and coal
products manufacturing industry, which primarily includes refineries and not
coal mines; and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution
industry. Already included in this program is the hard-rock mining industry.
Financial assurance requirements help ensure that owners and operators of
facilities are able to pay for cleanup of environmental releases and help
reduce the number of sites that need to be cleaned up by federal taxpayers
through the Superfund program, following Section 108(b) of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
Additional classes of facilities that require further regulations: waste
management and remediation services, wood product manufacturing, fabricated metal
product manufacturing, electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing, and
facilities engaged in the recycling of materials containing CERCLA hazardous
substances. Farmed game are excluded from the limits of dioxins and
dioxin-like PCBs set for meat and meat products. The limits set for liver,
derived products, and fat is now restricted to bovines, sheep, poultry, pigs. [36]
According to the European Commission of an edible thickening agent called guar
gum (E412), used in a variety of pre-prepared foods,may contain dioxin and
pentachlorophenol contamination. Member States were asked to test all batches
of guar gum imported Indian.
High levels of dioxin had been found on the 13.07.2007 in a Swiss-made
thickening agent Unipektin branded VIDOCREM with levels of up to 156 picograms
of dioxin per gram of fat in additives have been found (Maximum allowed= 6 picograms) .
Official issues claim that there is no immediate health risk to consumers, but
as these chemicals have the potential for a range of toxic effects such as
high risk of cancer, people shouldn't be exposed to them unnecessarily.
Consumer should avoid products which have thickening agent guar gum in their
ingredient list.
The contaminated guar gum had been exported by the India Glycols Limited company. [37]
Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) are chemicals that get into our
food from the environment.
Foods high in animal fat, such as milk, meat, fish and eggs are the main
source of dioxins and PCBs although all foods contains at least low levels of these chemical.
Dioxins may be formed as unwanted by-products in a variety of industrial and
combustion processes, including household fires.
PCBs have been used since the early 1930s, mainly in electrical equipment,
however, their production was stopped in the 1970s.
According to the latest information from the European Rapid Alert System,
levels of up to 292 µg/kg polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been
detected in pork products from Ireland in December 2008. As this constitutes a major
exceeding of the maximum admissible levels in the samples examined, the Irish
government has recalled these foods.
The food industry is therefore required to recall from the market all Irish
(Republic) pork products produced from pigs slaughtered in Ireland. This
includes all raw and cooked pork products e.g. pork, ham, sausages, bacon,
gamon steaks etc. [38] Ireland's Food Safety Authority (FSAI) has confirmed that feed contaminated
with dioxins has been fed to some cattle in Ireland.
Dr Andrew Wadge, FSA Chief Scientist, said that the risk from dioxin in beef
is significantly lower than in pork. Cattle consume a wider variety of feeds
and the way their bodies process the feed is different which makes the risk of
contamination much lower.
Republic of Ireland Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith said the levels of dioxins
found in the beef were two to three times above safe limits, compared with 200
times for the pig meat. The risk consuming Irish beef is low and therefore beef
products are not removed from shelves. Losses with beef are expected to be less
serious because there is better traceability in the beef sector than the pork
sector. Isolating the affected meat will be easier. [39]
The Czech Agricultural and Food Inspection (CAFIA) detained one 10 ton guar
gum batches (E412) destined for the market in October 2008. The detained guar
gum contained 0.046 mg/kg - ppm pentachlorophenol, a pesticide and wood
preservative. It is toxic to liver interferes in reproduction, development and
rises body temperature. Since 5 May 2008 all charges of guar gum and guar gum
products have to be tested by the Indian authorities, or by food operators to
enter the EU [40]. Guar gum producing plants are
cultivated in India and Pakistan, producing up to 85 per cent of global demand.
Very low levels of pentachlorophenol in contaminated indoor and outdoor air,
food, drinking water and soil are present as a result of uninhibited use of
the chemical in the past.
In August 2007 and March 2008 dioxin had been detected in guar gum charges and
resulted in import safety regulations of testing guar gum. The high dioxin levels
were linked to contamination of the guar gum with pentachlorophenol (PCP).
Although there was no immediate risk to health, large numbers of food products,
including yoghurts and fruit drinks, were withdrawn from sale all over Europe. [41] Infectious prions can be present decades before symptons appear, an early detection method is needed for early treatment to stop the spread of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Prion diseases are difficult to diagnose, untreatable and ultimately fatal. Brain tissue dies out and sponge-like holes are formed in the brain. [42]
Infectious prions are also found outside the brain, in saliva, blood, breast milk, urine and the nasal and cerebral spinal fluids, however, their concentrations in these bodily fluids are to low to be measured with available methods.
A new prion detection method, called real time quaking induced conversion assay, or RT-QuIC was has been developed by by Byron Caughey. Using this technique the small amounts of infectious prions are leaded to convert large amounts of normal prion protein into an abnormal form which enables their detection. The test detected high levels of prions in nasal fluids of hamsters, pointing to such fluids as possible sources of contagion in various prion diseases. RT-QuIC related applications might also be used to diagnose similar neurodegenerative protein diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases.
William and colleagues 2010 estimate the relative amount of prions using the RT-QuIC prion detection method. [43] [44]
Gielbert and colleagues 2009 report a method to identify differences between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the classical scrapie and experimental transmissible spongiform encephalopathy strains.
Diagnosis of TSE is based on the detection of the abnormal protease-resistant prion protein (PrP(Sc)). Proteolysis by proteinase K (PK) generates protease-resistant products (PrP(res)) with partially variable N-termini.The N-terminal aminoacid profiles (N-TAAPs) is , and can be determined with the method developed by Gilbert and colleagues [45]
Fluorescence spectra of the eye for diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) may become a new diagnostic tool analysing differences in the fluorescence intensity and spectroscopic signatures. It is based on the accumulation of lipofuscin in the retina. The detection of infectious prion diseases in animals could help prevent the disease from spreading in the food supply.
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