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Wheat, carrots, soil and drinking water illustrating efsa lead contam 2010 research context.

EFSA — Lead in Food (2010), No-Threshold Position

A food risk assessment explaining why EFSA does not set a tolerable weekly intake for lead and describing benchmark doses for developmental, cardiovascular and kidney effects.

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Overview

EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain established in its March 2010 Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food that the previous JECFA provisional tolerable weekly intake of 25 µg/kg b.w./week is no longer appropriate, on the basis that the dose-response evidence for the most sensitive lead endpoints does not support a threshold (EFSA 2010 lead opinion). EFSA does not therefore set a numeric TWI for lead, but instead reports Benchmark Dose Lower Confidence Limits for three critical endpoints: developmental neurotoxicity in young children, systolic blood pressure effects in adults, and chronic kidney disease prevalence in adults (EFSA 2010 lead opinion).

Critical endpoint BMDLs

BMDL values from EFSA 2010 lead opinion:

EndpointBlood lead BMDLEquivalent dietary intake (µg/kg b.w./day)
Developmental neurotoxicity (young children)BMDL01 12 µg/L0.50
Systolic blood pressure (adults)BMDL01 36 µg/L1.50
Chronic kidney disease prevalence (adults)BMDL10 15 µg/L0.63

The developmental neurotoxicity endpoint is the most sensitive. EFSA assesses the margins of exposure and concludes that for substantial fractions of European children and infants, the margin between current dietary lead exposure and the BMDL01 for neurotoxicity is small enough that adverse effects cannot be excluded at the population level (EFSA 2010 lead opinion).

Dietary exposure ranges (EFSA 2010)

Exposure ranges from EFSA 2010 lead opinion:

PopulationAverage exposure (µg/kg b.w./day)High consumer (µg/kg b.w./day)
Adults0.36 to 1.24up to 2.43
Children0.80 to 3.10up to 5.51
Infants0.21 to 0.94—

Cereal products are the dominant dietary contributor; dust and soil are important non-dietary sources for children (EFSA 2010 lead opinion).

Sources

  • EFSA Pb 2010 — EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain, 2010. Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food.

References

Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. See Sources for this page’s source inventory. Each title links to a source record with bibliographic details, reported findings, and document provenance.

  1. Scientific Opinion on Lead in FoodEFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) · EFSA Journal 2010;8(4):1570 · 2010 · doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1570Government

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