Hur mycket organohalogener får vi egentligen i oss? En studie av total koncentration organohalogener i lax, sill och torsk : How much organohalogens do we really ingest? A study of total concentrations of organohalogens in salmon, herring, and cod

Sammanfattning: Studies have shown high concentrations of organohalogens in lipid-rich foods, such as fish, which is believed to be the main source of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via food consumption. There are methods for measuring total organohalogens in, for example, water, but no standardized methods for food. Studies of nutrients and unwanted substances in food are usually conducted with targeted methods which can only detect predetermined compounds. This means that there are most likely organohalogens that are not detected in the targeted methods. Therefore, a better understanding of the human exposure to total organohalogens via food consumption is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate total organohalogens in salmon, herring, and cod, which are the most consumed fish in Sweden. We compared our results with the Swedish Food Agency's most recent food basket survey, to be able to see if there were any differences between our detected levels and the totaled concentrations from the targeted method of the food basket survey, as well as to be able to calculate the human exposure to organohalogens via the consumption of fish. Out of the organohalogens, the results showed that the used method worked best for the detection of total levels of water-soluble Cl in fish. We managed to extract 43% of total Cl in cod, 88% in herring and 91% in salmon. Most of the detected total Cl in our fish samples consisted of organic Cl. Our results showed significantly higher concentrations of organic Cl in all fish species compared to the Swedish Food Agency's fish sample. The highest concentrations were detected in cod, followed by herring and the lowest concentrations detected in salmon. Concentrations of F were below the limit of quantification and concentrations of Br, and I could not be detected. Therefore, these could not be analyzed further. The human exposure to organic Cl was calculated to be 165,000 times higher in our samples compared to the estimated exposure from fish in the Swedish Food Agency's food basket survey. Our combined results show that there is a need for further studies of total organohalogens in fish and other foods to assess possible risks to human health.