Risk assessment for dioxins and related compounds

Abstract

The presence of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other ubiquitous environmental contaminants in food and feed is generally unavoidable. As a consequence, human and animal exposure to these compounds is also unavoidable. We know that some of these compounds are highly toxic. It is therefore important to be able to establish whether or not these substances, at the levels they are found, are likely to cause adverse health effects in either animals or humans. Risk assessment consists of hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation. The aim of a risk assessment is to set a health-based guidance value to determine an intake that may be judged to be without appreciable risk or to identify a margin of exposure between a reference point or point of departure (in the case of North America) associated with a corresponding dose–response curve and estimated exposure. Risk management relies heavily on the outcome of the risk assessment process but will also take into account socio-economic and political factors.