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.