Risk assessment of the dietary exposure to contaminants and pesticide residues in young children in the Netherlands

The diet of children aged 2 to 6 years in the Netherlands is safe regarding the exposure to fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, patulin (toxic compounds produced by fungi), nitrate and organophosphorus pesticides. For dioxins, that are mainly present in animal fats, there is a limited probability that an adverse health effect will occur. For acrylamide, that is present in baked and fried foods, there is also a probability of an adverse health effect occurring in young children. However, the extent to which this could happen is as yet unclear. For aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A (both also toxic compounds produced by fungi) it was not feasible to determine whether or not adverse health effects occur in this age group. These are the results of a study performed by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety. For acrylamide, aflatoxin B1, dioxins and ochratoxin A, more research is needed to refine the risk assessment. The most important requirements for this purpose are the generation of representative concentration data for aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A in food and a better understanding of the toxicological effect of acrylamide. The aim of the study described in this report was to assess the dietary exposure and the related possible health risk, to a selected group of compounds in young children in the Netherlands. For this purpose, food consumption data from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2005/2006-Young children were linked to data on the concentration of these compounds in foods. The health risk of children was subsequently assessed with the help of the available literature regarding the toxicology of these compounds