title: Assessment of human exposure to benzene through foods from the Belgian market.
abstract: Benzene is a volatile organic compound known to be carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) and may be present in food. In the present study, 455 food samples from the Belgian market were analyzed for benzene contents and some possible sources of its occurrence in the foodstuffs were evaluated. Benzene was found above the level of detection in 58% of analyzed samples with the highest contents found in processed foods such as smoked and canned fish, and foods which contained these as ingredients (up to 76.21 μg kg(-1)). Unprocessed foods such as raw meat, fish, and eggs contained much lower concentrations of benzene. Using the benzene concentrations in food, a quantitative dietary exposure assessment of benzene intake was conducted on a national representative sample of the Belgian population over 15 years of age. The mean benzene intake for all foods was 0.020 μg kg bw d(-1) according to a probabilistic analysis. These values are below the minimum risk level for oral chronic exposure to benzene (0.5 μg kg bw d(-1)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Medeiros Vinci
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacxsens
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Loco
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matsiko
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lachat
authors.forename: Thibault
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Schaetzen
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canfyn
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Overmeire
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kolsteren
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Meulenaer
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D011336:Probability
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D001554:Benzene