Risk assessment of PCDD/PCDFs and indicator PCBs contamination in Spanish commercial baby food

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous highly toxic environmental pollutants which exhibit a potential risk for human health. PCDD/Fs and PCBs contamination has been measured in samples of commercial baby food products: processed cereal and meat-and-fish-based baby food, which were made of individual samples collected from Spanish markets and pharmacies. They all presented a low dioxin content with a mean concentration ranging between 0.014 pg WHO-TEQ g⁻¹ product for fish-based baby food and 0.089 pg WHO PCDD/Fs-TEQ g⁻¹ product for processed cereal containing gluten. The mean concentration of the sum of the seven indicator PCBs was between 0.03 ng g⁻¹ product for fish-based baby food and 0.29 ng g⁻¹ product for gluten-free cereals. The estimated PCDD/Fs and indicator PCBs mean daily intake through the consumption of this kind of food has been calculated taking into account body weight and food consumption data for children aged 6–12 months. In order to assess the health risk derived from the exposure to these pollutants in children during the first year of life, data concerning infant formulae contamination has been also considered.