Estimation of intake of bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether (BADGE) from canned fish consumption in Europe and migration survey

Abstract

The exposure to bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether (BADGE) from canned fish in oil was assessed from consumption data collected for each Member State of the European Union and Switzerland, and migration data from a European survey on 382 samples. Trade figures were used when no consumption data were available. The average consumption of canned fish in Europe was 2.3kg per person per year, with values ranging from 0.2kg per person per year in the United Kingdom to 5.1kg per person per year in Denmark. The exposure to BADGE was calculated as µg per person per day. The data indicated that exposure to BADGE was in the range below 4mg per person per year, i.e. 9 µg per person per day, hence a fairly low exposure in part due to the fact that canned fish is a relatively minor dietary item. An approximation assuming the general figure of a 60kg adult, would thus be 0.15 µg/kg body weight per day. This is a fairly limited exposure considering the provisional limit in food had been set a 1mg/kg and assumed 1kg of food ingested. In countries for which increased exposure was found, the reason was mainly caused by one individual sample exhibiting a high concentration rather than a larger number of samples with mildly elevated concentrations.