Levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food of animal origin in the Netherlands during the period 2001–2011

The aim of this study was to assess levels of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (DL-PCBs) in food of animal origin produced in the Netherlands, including potential trends in time. Test results from about 2500 samples of animal derived food products (beef, veal, lamb, chicken, pork, deer, milk and eggs), sampled for the National Residue Monitoring Plan from 2001–2011, were evaluated. Most samples were screened with a bioassay and, if suspected, analysed by GC-HRMS. The fraction of samples which were non-compliant with European maximum levels was rather low, being below 1% for most food products, except for lamb. Exceedance of action levels was particularly observed for lamb and beef. To obtain an insight into background levels, a randomly taken part of the samples was directly analysed by GC-HRMS. In general, only minor decreases in mean PCDD/F and DL-PCB concentrations could be observed for the period 2001–2011. This may be due to a plateauing of current background levels but also to factors like the sensitivity of the analytical method.

本研究旨在评估荷兰生产的动物源食品中二噁英（polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, PCDD/Fs）及类二噁英多氯联苯（dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls, DL-PCBs）的含量水平，并探究其随时间变化的潜在趋势。本研究对2001至2011年间依托国家残留监测计划采集的约2500份动物源食品样品（涵盖牛肉、小牛肉、羊肉、鸡肉、猪肉、鹿肉、牛奶及鸡蛋）的检测结果进行了评估。大部分样品采用生物分析法进行初筛，若初筛结果呈阳性，则通过气相色谱-高分辨质谱（GC-HRMS）进行确证分析。不符合欧盟最大残留限量的样品占比极低，多数食品类别的不合格率均低于1%，仅羊肉例外。超过行动限值的情况尤其多见于羊肉与牛肉样品。为深入了解本底污染水平，研究人员随机抽取部分样品直接采用GC-HRMS进行分析。整体而言，2001至2011年间，样品中PCDD/Fs及DL-PCBs的平均浓度仅出现小幅下降。这一现象可能源于当前本底水平已趋于平稳，同时也可能与分析方法的灵敏度等因素相关。