TY - JOUR

T1 - Butter as an indicator of regional persistent organic pollutant contamination: further development of the approach using polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like PCBs.

AU - Santillo, D.

AU - Fernandez, A.

AU - Stringer, R.

AU - Alcock, R.

AU - White, S.

AU - Jones, Kevin C.

AU - Johnston, P.

PY - 2003

Y1 - 2003

N2 - The potential for use of butter as a widely available, relatively uniform lipid-rich matrix for the determination of spatial distributions of persistent organic pollutants has already been demonstrated. The present study determines the contributions to toxicity equivalence (TEQ) from polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) using butter samples from 24 countries world wide. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs ranged from 0.07 to 5.69 pg ΣWHO-TEQ g -1 lipid. For most samples, PCDD/F TEQ fell within ranges reported for European dairy products over the last decade (0.3-2 pg g -1 lipid I-TEQ), though a single sample from Spain was a notable exception. Other than this sample, the highest values were recorded for samples from the Netherlands and Italy, with those from India, China and Tunisia also being relatively high. The contribution from non- ortho -PCBs was particularly significant in samples from Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Tunisia, India and Argentina. Although overall TEQs were generally highest in European and Mediterranean butters, elevated levels were also apparent in industrializing regions of Asia (India, China) and Latin America (Argentina). More detailed regional studies would be necessary to identify likely dioxin and PCB sources in each case. Nevertheless, this study supports the utility of butter as a monitoring matrix that may be especially applicable in regions for which monitoring programmes are currently lacking.

AB - The potential for use of butter as a widely available, relatively uniform lipid-rich matrix for the determination of spatial distributions of persistent organic pollutants has already been demonstrated. The present study determines the contributions to toxicity equivalence (TEQ) from polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) using butter samples from 24 countries world wide. Concentrations of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs ranged from 0.07 to 5.69 pg ΣWHO-TEQ g -1 lipid. For most samples, PCDD/F TEQ fell within ranges reported for European dairy products over the last decade (0.3-2 pg g -1 lipid I-TEQ), though a single sample from Spain was a notable exception. Other than this sample, the highest values were recorded for samples from the Netherlands and Italy, with those from India, China and Tunisia also being relatively high. The contribution from non- ortho -PCBs was particularly significant in samples from Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Tunisia, India and Argentina. Although overall TEQs were generally highest in European and Mediterranean butters, elevated levels were also apparent in industrializing regions of Asia (India, China) and Latin America (Argentina). More detailed regional studies would be necessary to identify likely dioxin and PCB sources in each case. Nevertheless, this study supports the utility of butter as a monitoring matrix that may be especially applicable in regions for which monitoring programmes are currently lacking.

KW - Persistent Organic Pollutants

KW - Pops

KW - Pcbs

KW - Dioxins

KW - Butter

KW - Regional Distribution

KW - Monitoring Tool

U2 - 10.1080/0265203021000057494

DO - 10.1080/0265203021000057494

M3 - Journal article

VL - 20

SP - 281

EP - 290

JO - Food Additives and Contaminants

JF - Food Additives and Contaminants

SN - 0265-203X

IS - 3

ER -