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In the European Union, all chemical substances that are manufactured, imported or used in tonnages equal or higher than one tonne per year must be registered under the REACH regulation. This regulatory framework requires the collection and dissemination of detailed information on the properties, uses, and potential health and environmental impacts of chemicals. However, some of these chemicals may pose emerging risks in the food chain, necessitating the development of approaches to identify and assess such risks. The SCREENER project addressed this critical issue by analysing food items for the presence of chemicals that may pose unrecognised hazards. Building on the findings from the previous REACH 1 and REACH 2 projects, which identified a suspect list of 212 chemicals, qualitative multi‐residue high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) methods have been developed. Diverse food items such as wheat flour, kale, carrots, potatoes, peas, strawberries, oranges, meat, hen's eggs, and trout were pooled from 3 samples each, while cow's milk, and other fish types (salmon and herring) were pooled from 4 samples each to form a single sample. This pooling procedure resulted in 194 analytical samples, which were screened for the presence of the chemicals in the suspect list. Additionally, non‐target analysis (NTA) was performed on the same samples, focusing on detecting halogenated compounds. The aim was to detect substances potentially introduced into the food chain unintentionally through industrial and anthropogenic activities, which were previously unrecognised in the food chain. In the final stage of the project, 15 chemicals were further prioritized for identification and quantitative analysis. Quantitative methods were developed and then applied to the same 194 samples, allowing for the identification and quantification of those chemicals. Subsequently, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterisation were conducted. A preliminary characterization of the potential risk posed by the chemicals found in the samples during quantitative confirmatory analysis indicated no risk to human health in all but three cases where additional analysis on occurrence and detailed evaluation of the hazard can be considered as a possible follow‐up action in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the European Single Use Plastic Directive and as part of the transition to a circular economy, plastic food contact materials (FCMs) are being replaced, often by renewable plant-based materials. This research aimed to identify which chemical substances are present in plant-based materials. In 2022 a total of 28 samples of the latter materials from the Dutch market were analysed for 313 active substances from plant protection products, 47 per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFASs) and 27 heavy metals and other elements. Ten samples contained plant protection products that are not authorised in the EU. Most materials contained PFASs at trace or even high levels. Three out of four investigated sugar cane materials contained 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol at levels up to 1.7 mg/kg. High contents of aluminium, manganese, iron, zinc, and barium were found. Other heavy metals, such as arsenic, lead and mercury were found in relatively low contents. A broad GC-MS screening was performed, which revealed the presence of plant extractable, plasticisers, antioxidants and hydrocarbons, which were not all authorised for FCMs, but may be present as non-intentionally added substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calibration of a kinetic model for the transfer of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs from feed to the hen's body and eggs was thus far restricted to the total TEQ concentration, i.e. the summed concentrations of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs expressed in terms of equivalents of 2,3,7,8-TCDD. However, this approach may lead to over- or underestimation of the transfer if the mixture contains congeners with kinetic characteristics which differ considerably from those used in such a model. This paper extends a previous transfer model of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs from feed to egg yolk fat and abdominal fat of high production laying hens, based on the total TEQ approach, to the level of individual congeners. Both modelling approaches are compared and the new approach is presented as a webtool application. This congener-specific approach enabled the calibration of 25 of the 29 relevant PCDD/F and dl-PCB congeners with respect to their individual transfer characteristics to body fat and egg yolk fat and their clearance from the body. Limitations of the available experimental data prevented the calibration of 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, OCDD, OCDF and PCB 123. The fraction transferred to egg yolk fat after long-term daily intake of contaminated feed was found to be at least 0.78 for 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 0.75 for PeCDD, 0.42–0.61 for HxCDDs, 0.70 for 2,3,7,8-TCDF, 0.71 for PeCDF, 0.54–0.60 for HxCDFs, 0.18–0.24 for HpCDFs and 0.89–1.00 for dl-PCBs. Various experimental and feed incident mixtures were used to compare the total TEQ- model with the congener-specific approach. An overestimation of the transfer by the total TEQ method was shown in particular for mixtures with a substantial contribution of hexa-, hepta- and octa-PCDD/Fs to the total TEQ level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-based dietary supplements may contain undesirable contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) due to the sources of raw materials or processing methods used. The presence of these contaminants in a series of herbal supplements sold on the Ghanaian market for improving sexual performance was examined using the DR CALUX® bioassay in combination with GC-HRMS analysis. Overall, cell responses at 4 and 48 h exposure to extracts prepared without an acid-silica clean-up were relatively higher than the responses obtained from extracts prepared with an acid-silica clean-up. This indicated that the 40 supplements contained only low levels of stable aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists like polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dl-PCBs, while some contained substantial amounts of less stable AhR-agonists. Ten supplements selected for confirmation with GC-HRMS analysis contained PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs at levels ranging from 0.01 to 0.19 pg toxic equivalent (TEQ)/g only, while the level of the sum of 4 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Σ4PAHs) representing less stable AhR agonists, ranged from not detected (ND) to 25.5 ng/g. These concentrations were in line with the responses observed in the DR CALUX® bioassay. The concentration of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs corresponded to estimated daily intakes (EDIs) ranging from 0.01 to 1.20 pg TEQ/day, or 0.001 to 0.12 pg TEQ/kg bw/week for a 70 kg bw consumer, which was below the established tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 2 pg TEQ/kg bw/week, thus indicating low concern for consumers' health. Similarly, the EDIs based on the detected Σ4PAHs in supplements ranged from 7.2 to 111 ng/day, or 0.1 to 1.6 ng/kg bw/day, which corresponded to MOE values above 10,000, indicating a low health concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]