Estimation of dietary intake of PCB and organochlorine pesticides for children and adults

Levels of organochlorine substances, including a number of organochlorine pesticides and PCB, are monitored in food, including meat, fish and dairy products. The substances are slowly degradable and therefore persist for long periods in the environment, where they accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. They are included, because of the potential health-hazardous effect of these compounds on humans. The highest average contents are found in cod liver and fatty fish. The Danish population’s average daily intake has been estimated at between 0.03 and 0.3 μg/day for organochlorine pesticides and 0.9 μg/day for the indicator PCB-sum. People with a relatively high intake of these substances (the 95th percentile) are estimated to consume approximately twice as much. In general, the highest contributions to the intake of the organochlorine environmental contaminants are from fish, meat and dairy products. However, children have a relatively higher intake from milk and milk products and a lower intake from fish compared to adults.