Use of a food-consumption database with packaging information to estimate exposure to food-packaging migrants: expoxidized soybean oil and styrene monomer

There is no set protocol for completing refined exposure assessments of food-packaging migrants in the European Union. One novel method that could be used to provide more realistic exposure assessments and also reduce uncertainty in the exposure estimation could be the use of food consumption surveys that also have packaging information. The aim of the current study was to estimate exposure to two food-packaging migrants (expoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) and styrene monomer) using a food-consumption database that collected packaging information. The Irish National Children's Food Survey (NCFS) was completed in 2003-04 and it collected information on the type and amount of food consumed by 594 Irish children aged 5-12 years, in addition to the type of packaging used for these foods. The Irish Food Packaging Database (IFPD) was completed in parallel to this food consumption survey and recorded exact information on the contact layer used for the packaging. In a database that combined information from the NCFS and the IFPD, the packaging materials that could contain the target migrants were identified. If a food was packaged in a material that could contain the migrant, it was assumed that the migrant was present in the food. For the exposure assessment of ESBO the 90th percentile migration values of ESBO in foods derived from the literature were used. This was similar to a method as used by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in their exposure assessment of ESBO for adults. Two scenarios of styrene exposure were undertaken in this study. In the first scenario the 90th percentile migration value for styrene found in foods was used; in the second scenario the maximum level of styrene found in foods was used. These migration values were derived from the literature. The mean intake of ESBO for Irish children was 0.023 mg kg^-1 body weight day^-1, which is well below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 1 mg kg^-1 body weight day^-1 set by the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) in 1999. The food group that contributed most to ESBO intake was tomato sauces packed in glass jars with polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-lined metal lids (46.8%). For styrene, the mean intake was 0.122 µg kg^-1 body weight day^-1 when using the 90th percentile migration values and 0.169 µg kg^-1 body weight day^-1 when using the maximum migration values. These estimated intakes are below the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 40 µg kg^-1 body weight day^-1, which was established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in 1984. Therefore, the estimated intakes of the two migrants are not of concern for Irish Children and uncertainty is reduced in the assessment due to the fact that information is available on the type of foods consumed the type of packaging used for these foods.