The Chinese total diet study in 1990. Part I. Chemical contaminants.

The Chinese total diet study in 1990 estimated the dietary intake of 24 chemical contaminants and 72 nutrients from 4 market baskets collected and prepared in 12 provinces. Twelve food group composites were made for each regional market basket. The overall dietary Pb, Cd, Hg, hexachlorocyclohexane HCH, and DDT intakes were well below their corresponding acceptable daily intakes. However, the Pb content of eggs from the 2 southern regions exceeded the tolerance limit. The Hg content of legumes just reached the tolerance limit, and Hg in eggs from the North 1 region exceeded the tolerance limit. The dietary HCH intake has decreased significantly since the 1980s, but dietary DDT intake has decreased rather slowly. Five organophosphorus pesticides were detected out of a total of 12 organophosphorus pesticides analyzed. Among them, methamidophos was the most outstanding. The intake of total committed dose equivalents (CDEs) of the 6 radionuclides was 0.24 mSv/a; only 1.5% was accounted for by 90Sr and 137Cs. 210Pb, 210Po, 226Ra, and 228Ra accounted for 98.5% of the total CDEs. The main food sources of those radionuclides were cereals, vegetables, and aquatic foods. Aflatoxin B1 was detected at very low levels only in the cereal composite of the North 1 region. Aflatoxin M1 was not detected in any of the milk and milk products. The overall results show that there is no significant environmental contamination of the average Chinese diet.