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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Food Animal Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #226140
Title: Effect of updated 2005 TEFS on previous USDA food surveys of PCDD/Fs and co-planar PCBS and comparison to initial results from a new survey

Author
item Huwe, Janice
item DEARFIELD, KERRY - FSIS
item PAGAN-RODRIGUEZ, DORITZA - FSIS
item CLINCH, NELSON - FSIS
item HICKS, JOANN - FSIS
item HOLTERMAN, JAMES - FSIS
item Lorentzsen, Margaret
item Larsen, Gerald
item GORDON, DONALD - FSIS

Submitted to: Organohalogen Compounds
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/30/2008
Publication Date: 8/16/2008
Citation: Huwe, J.K., Dearfield, K., Pagan-Rodriguez, D., Clinch, N., Hicks, J., Holterman, J., Lorentzsen, M.K., Larsen, G.L., Gordon, D. 2008. Effect of updated 2005 TEFS on previous USDA food surveys of PCDD/Fs and co-planar PCBS and comparison to initial results from a new survey. Organohalogen Compounds 70:1514-1517.

Interpretive Summary: Polychlorinated dibenzo p dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls are ubiquitous environmental pollutants which are considered to be potential chronic human toxins. Humans are exposed to these compounds (dioxins) predominately through their diet. The concentration of dioxins in food samples is generally measured as the total of all dioxin-like compounds weighted by their toxicity. This measure is called a toxic equivalent (TEQ). The toxicity of dioxins is continually being re-evaluated, and recently changes were made to the toxicity of a number of dioxin-like compounds. Application of these new toxicity factors to a USDA survey of domestic meat and poultry conducted in 2002-2003 resulted in a 2-4% decline in average TEQ levels. Using the new toxicity factors, TEQ levels from meat and poultry surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the mid-1990s and 2002-2003 were compared to preliminary data from a new 2008 survey and showed that dioxin levels appear to have declined in meat and poultry over the past decade, but this decline may be slowing or leveling off in the past few years.

Technical Abstract: The toxicity of dioxin-like compounds (polychlorinated dibenzo p dioxins/dibenzofurans/biphenyls) was recently reevaluated by an expert panel and changes were made to the toxicity factors (TEFs) of several compounds which directly effects the calculation of toxic equivalents (TEQs), a measure of total dioxin-like concentration. When data from a previous meat and poultry survey conducted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture was converted from the 1998 TEF values to the new 2005 TEFs values, mean TEQs decreased by 2-4%. Using these 2005 TEFs, the results of two previous surveys (mid-1990s and 2002-2003) were compared to preliminary results from a recent survey begun in late 2007 to obtain updated information on dioxin levels in domestic meat and poultry. All of the surveys measured the levels of dioxin-like compounds in four major slaughter classes (steers and heifers, market hogs, young chickens and young turkeys) that comprise over 90% of the meat and poultry production in the United States. To date, 40% of the 2008 survey samples have been analyzed and early results indicate that dioxin levels appear to have declined in the past decade in all slaughter classes, but this decline may have slowed or leveled off in the last few years.