Given the ongoing studies on the adverse effects of organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers on human health, there is an increasing scientific interest in the risk of exposure ...to OPEs via dietary intake. Using peer-reviewed literature published up to 2018, this review surveyed and compiled the available and reported data on the concentrations and distributions of 30 OPEs based on their occurrence in various food samples from around the world. Regardless of sampling locations or food categories, 22 OPEs were detectable in at least one of analyzed sample, and there were clear variations in OPE levels among samples from different locations or food categories. For instance, cereals and fats/oils were the most contaminated by OPEs in China and Belgium, whereas fats/oils and desserts were the main polluted products in Sweden. In contrast, vegetables, fruits, fluid dairy products, and cereals were reported as the primary categories of food polluted by OPEs in Australia. Animal-based food categories such as eggs, fish and meat were the least contaminated, whereas the highest median OPE concentrations were found in meat and fish from the United State. The levels and distribution patterns of OPEs in foodstuffs demonstrated a tremendous difference even when collected from the same country and the same food item. Rice from China had the highest tris(2‑chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP, mean: 29.8 ng/g dw) levels, whereas 2‑ethylhexyl‑diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP, mean: 4.17 ng/g ww), triphenyl phosphate (TPHP, mean: 26.14 ng/g ww), tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP, mean: 0.87 ng/g ww) and tributyl phosphate (TNBP, median: 0.55 ng/g ww) concentrations were the highest in the same food category from Sweden, Belgium, Australia, and the United States, respectively. These discrepancies may be due to a variety of reasons such as differences in OPE physico-chemical properties, extent of usage, uptake, metabolic pathways, industrial food manufacturing processes, OPE level differences as a function of habitat, and accumulation and degradability of OPEs in different species. It is worth noting that, due to its worldwide usage in food packaging materials, EHDPP was more prominently found in processed food compared to non-processed food. Based on reported OPE levels in various foods, this review conducted a preliminary assessment of human exposure to OPEs through dietary intake, which suggested that the OPE estimated daily intake (EDI) for humans was around 880 ng/kg bw/day (95th percentile). This value was well below the corresponding OPE health reference dose given by the U.S. EPA (≥15,000 ng/kg bw/day). Even so, dietary exposure to OPEs via food intake may be not negligible based on some important factors such as dilution effects, cooking processes, and the contribution of as yet unknown means of OPE exposure. Overall, this review highlights several gaps in our understanding of OPEs in foodstuffs: 1) the investigation of contamination levels of OPEs in foodstuffs should be extended to other regions, especially North America and European countries, where OPEs are widely used and frequently detected in environmental samples, and 2) newly identified OPE derivatives/by-products, e.g., OP diesters and hydroxylated metabolites, which have been reported as end-products of OPE enzymatic metabolism or degradation through aqueous hydrolysis, and which may co-exist with parent OPEs, could also be screened with precursor OPEs in foodstuffs in future studies.
•We reviewed the OPE concentrations in foodstuffs in literature published up to 2018.•Twenty-two OPEs were detectable in at lease of analyzed foodstuff samples.•A tremendous difference exists on OPE levels among locations or food categories.•EHDPP was more prominently found in processed food rather than non-processed food.•Newly identified OPE derivatives/by-products could also be screened in future studies.
This study investigated mass concentrations of selected plastics in store-bought rice, the staple of more than half the world’s population. Polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, poly-(methyl ...methacrylate), polypropylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride were quantified using pressurized liquid extraction coupled to double-shot pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were quantifiable in the rice samples with polyethylene the most frequently detected (95%). There was no statistical difference between total plastic concentration in paper and plastic packaged rice. Shaking the rice in its packaging had no significant difference on the concentration of plastics. Washing the rice with water significantly reduced plastic contamination. Instant (pre-cooked) rice contained fourfold higher levels of plastics, suggesting that industrial processing potentially increases contamination. A preliminary estimate of the intake of plastic through rice consumption for Australians established 3.7 mg per serve (100 g) if not washed and 2.8 mg if washed. Annual consumption was estimated around 1 g/person.
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•Selected plastics were quantified in a number of store-bought rice products.•Washing rice before cooking reduced plastics contamination by 20–40%.•Plastics in (pre-cooked) instant rice were four-fold higher than in uncooked rice.•Australians may consume 3–4 mg of plastic through a single serve of rice.•Australians may consume around 1 g per person annually via rice consumption.
AbstractObjectiveTo analyse the health and environmental implications of adopting national food based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) at a national level and compared with global health and environmental ...targets.DesignModelling study.Setting85 countries.ParticipantsPopulation of 85 countries.Main outcome measuresA graded coding method was developed and used to extract quantitative recommendations from 85 FBDGs. The health and environmental impacts of these guidelines were assessed by using a comparative risk assessment of deaths from chronic diseases and a set of country specific environmental footprints for greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, cropland use, and fertiliser application. For comparison, the impacts of adopting the global dietary recommendations of the World Health Organization and the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems were also analysed. Each guideline’s health and sustainability implications were assessed by modelling its adoption at both the national level and globally, and comparing the impacts to global health and environmental targets, including the Action Agenda on Non-Communicable Diseases, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Aichi biodiversity targets related to land use, and the sustainable development goals and planetary boundaries related to freshwater use and fertiliser application.ResultsAdoption of national FBDGs was associated with reductions in premature mortality of 15% on average (95% uncertainty interval 13% to 16%) and mixed changes in environmental resource demand, including a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 13% on average (regional range −34% to 35%). When universally adopted globally, most of the national guidelines (83, 98%) were not compatible with at least one of the global health and environmental targets. About a third of the FBDGs (29, 34%) were incompatible with the agenda on non-communicable diseases, and most (57 to 74, 67% to 87%) were incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement and other environmental targets. In comparison, adoption of the WHO recommendations was associated with similar health and environmental changes, whereas adoption of the EAT-Lancet recommendations was associated with 34% greater reductions in premature mortality, more than three times greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and general attainment of the global health and environmental targets. As an example, the FBDGs of the UK, US, and China were incompatible with the climate change, land use, freshwater, and nitrogen targets, and adopting guidelines in line with the EAT-Lancet recommendation could increase the number of avoided deaths from 78 000 (74 000 to 81 000) to 104 000 (96 000 to 112 000) in the UK, from 480 000 (445 000 to 516 000) to 585 000 (523 000 to 646 000) in the USA, and from 1 149 000 (1 095 000 to 1 204 000) to 1 802 000 (1 664 000 to 1 941 000) in China.ConclusionsThis analysis suggests that national guidelines could be both healthier and more sustainable. Providing clearer advice on limiting in most contexts the consumption of animal source foods, in particular beef and dairy, was found to have the greatest potential for increasing the environmental sustainability of dietary guidelines, whereas increasing the intake of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and legumes, reducing the intake of red and processed meat, and highlighting the importance of attaining balanced energy intake and weight levels were associated with most of the additional health benefits. The health results were based on observational data and assuming a causal relation between dietary risk factors and health outcomes. The certainty of evidence for these relations is mostly graded as moderate in existing meta-analyses.
Dysbiosis is linked to human disease; therefore, gut microbiota modulation strategies provide an attractive means of correcting microbial imbalance to enhance human health. Because diet has a major ...influence on the composition, diversity, and metabolic capacity of the gut microbiota, numerous dietary intervention studies have been conducted to manipulate the gut microbiota to improve host outcomes and reduce disease risk. Emerging evidence suggests that interindividual variability in gut microbiota and host responsiveness exists, making it difficult to predict gut microbiota and host response to a given dietary intervention. This may, in turn, have implications on the consistency of results among studies and the perceived success or true efficacy of a dietary intervention in eliciting beneficial changes to the gut microbiota and human health.
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