Arcella Davide, Cascio Claudia, Gómez Ruiz Jose Ángel
EFSA J. 2021 Jan 29;19(1):e06380. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6380. eCollection 2021 Jan.
Following an official request to EFSA from the European Commission, EFSA assessed the chronic dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) in the European population. A total of 13,608 analytical results on iAs were considered in the current assessment (7,623 corresponding to drinking water and 5,985 to different types of food). Samples were collected across Europe between 2013 and 2018. The highest mean dietary exposure estimates at the lower bound (LB) were in toddlers (0.30 μg/kg body weight (bw) per day), and in both infants and toddlers (0.61 μg/kg bw per day) at the upper bound (UB). At the 95th percentile, the highest exposure estimates (LB-UB) were 0.58 and 1.20 μg/kg bw per day in toddlers and infants, respectively. In general, UB estimates were two to three times higher than LB estimates. The mean dietary exposure estimates (LB) were overall below the range of benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL ) values of 0.3-8 μg/kg bw per day established by the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain in 2009. However, for the 95th percentile dietary exposure (LB), the maximum estimates for infants, toddlers and other children were within this range of BMDL values. Across the different age classes, the main contributors to the dietary exposure to iAs (LB) were 'Rice', 'Rice-based products', 'Grains and grain-based products (no rice)' and 'Drinking water'. Different ad hoc exposure scenarios (e.g. consumption of rice-based formulae) showed dietary exposure estimates in average and for high consumers close to or within the range of BMDL values. The main uncertainties associated with the dietary exposure estimations refer to the impact of using the substitution method to treat the left-censored data (LB-UB differences), to the lack of information (consumption and occurrence) on some iAs-containing ingredients in specific food groups, and to the effect of food preparation on the iAs levels. Recommendations were addressed to improve future dietary exposure assessments to iAs.
应欧盟委员会向欧洲食品安全局（EFSA）提出的官方请求，EFSA对欧洲人群中无机砷（iAs）的慢性膳食暴露情况进行了评估。本次评估共考虑了13608份关于iAs的分析结果（7623份对应饮用水，5985份对应不同类型的食物）。样本于2013年至2018年在欧洲各地采集。下限（LB）的最高平均膳食暴露估计值出现在幼儿中（每天0.30微克/千克体重（bw）），上限（UB）则出现在婴儿和幼儿中（每天0.61微克/千克bw）。在第95百分位数时，幼儿和婴儿的最高暴露估计值（LB - UB）分别为每天0.58和1.20微克/千克bw。总体而言，UB估计值比LB估计值高两到三倍。平均膳食暴露估计值（LB）总体低于EFSA食物链污染物专家小组在2009年确定的0.3 - 8微克/千克bw/天的基准剂量下限置信限（BMDL）值范围。然而，对于第95百分位数的膳食暴露（LB），婴儿、幼儿和其他儿童的最大估计值在此BMDL值范围内。在不同年龄组中，膳食iAs暴露（LB）的主要贡献者是“大米”、“大米制品”、“谷物及谷物制品（不含大米）”和“饮用水”。不同的特定暴露场景（如食用大米配方奶粉）显示，平均和高消费者的膳食暴露估计值接近或在BMDL值范围内。与膳食暴露估计相关的主要不确定性涉及使用替代方法处理左删失数据的影响（LB - UB差异）、特定食物组中一些含iAs成分的信息（消费和存在情况）缺乏以及食物制备对iAs水平的影响。针对改进未来对iAs的膳食暴露评估提出了建议。
