[Contamination of production animals with environmental pollutants and public health risk]

Exposure to dairy products contaminated as a result of environmental pollution can be an important route of exposure for humans. Whether this route of exposure will cause a serious health risk depends on many factors. In this paper three examples of different types of environmental pollution are discussed with regard to exposure to contaminated dairy products. Specific groups in the Dutch population could be at risk, because the "silent" chronic contamination of dairy products. Human risk assessment, on which many standards for tolerable levels of contaminants in food are based, should take into account not only exposure of the average human, but also the more than average exposure of specific groups at risk.