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Comparison of Food Contamination and Exposure Levels in the 1970s, 2000s, and 2010s

Monitoring chemical contamination in food is a key component of food safety. Using data from the National Food Quality Inventory (1976–78) and Total Diet Studies (TDS), an ANSES team was able to compare food contamination and exposure levels from the late 1970s to the present.The average contamination of the main foods contributing to exposure to three substances (cadmium, lead, and nitrites) is significantly lower than that estimated in the 1970s, while it is of the same order of magnitude for two substances (total mercury and sulfites). The average dietary exposure for adults, children, and adolescents is now lower than in the 1970s for 18 substances (cadmium, methylmercury, lead, bromophos-ethyl, bromophos-methyl, chlorfenvinphos, diethion, fenchlorphos, fenitrothion, fonofos, malathion, parathion, parathion-methyl, phosalone, nitrites, tetrachlorvinphos, sulfites, and patulin), but it is higher for three pesticides (captan, endosulfan, and dimethoate). The average dietary exposure among heavy consumers of seafood is lower today for lead but higher for methylmercury.A body of evidence suggests that dietary exposures to chemical contaminants have decreased since the 1970s, leading to a reduction in a number of diet-related health risks, although these comparisons should be interpreted with caution and would require further studies to verify that these findings indeed correspond to temporal trends.Maintaining vigilance through the continuation of this type of study remains necessary to investigate new contaminants and monitor more closely those whose increase could serve as warning signs.