title: Estimated dietary exposure of Canadians to perchlorate through the consumption of fruits and vegetables available in Ottawa markets.
abstract: There has been increasing concern over the contamination of drinking water and food with perchlorate. Studies have reported perchlorate in a variety of foods, including lettuce, milk, fruits, and juices. In this study, 150 food samples were analyzed by ion chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (IC-MS/MS) to determine the concentrations of perchlorate in imported and domestic fruits and vegetables available from retail outlets in Ottawa, Canada. Perchlorate was found in most of the tested food types with concentrations appearing to vary by commodity and country of origin. Levels ranged from nondetectable to 536 microg/kg, with Guatemalan cantaloupes (156 +/- 232 microg/kg), United States spinach (133 +/- 24.9 microg/kg), Chilean green grapes (45.5 +/- 13.3 microg/kg), and United States Romaine lettuce (29.1 +/- 10.5 microg/kg) having the highest concentrations. Dietary exposure to perchlorate from analyzed fruits and vegetables was estimated to be approximately 36.6 and 41.1 ng/kg bw/day for toddlers (1-4 yrs) and children (5-11yrs), respectively.
authors.affiliation: Food Research Division, Banting Research Center 2203C, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Zhongwen_wang@hc-sc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Zhongwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.forename: Benjamin P-Y
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: Roni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bronson
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaertner
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009864:Ontario; D010472:Perchlorates / Q000032:analysis*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010472:Perchlorates