Occurrence and concentrations of phthalates, alternative plasticizers and other additives in food samples from the...

Total Diet Studies (TDSs) provide data on the occurrence of substances in commonly consumed foods for dietary exposure assessment. We present data from the BfR MEAL Study, the first full-scale German TDS, for the determination of plasticizers and additives in 226 pooled food samples. A multi-technique approach with matrix-dependent sample preparation, which was comprehensively validated in seven representative food matrices, was applied to the samples of various types of food matrices. This approach features high precision, recovery, and sensitivity, enabling reliable determination of 60 target analytes in all types of food collected in this study. In all samples, at least one of the analytes was detected, and in the majority of samples, at least one of the analytes could be quantified. The content of the ortho-phthalate plasticizers connected to reproductive toxicity and endocrine disrupting properties in the samples was low in most cases. A median of weighed overall content of hazardous phthalates (DEHP, DIBP, DNBP, BBP, DINP) of 15.3 μg DEHP equivalents/kg food suggests that overall exposure would be well below the TDI of 50 μg DEHP equivalents/kg bw/day. Detection frequency and content of some alternative plasticizers and additives were higher (e.g., up to 23,000 and 1300 μg/kg food for DINCH and DEHA). However, the median concentrations of these analytes were much lower: 99 and 56 μg/kg food.