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Environmental Contaminants

Friday, May 15, 2009

Environmental contaminants are chemicals that are present in the environment in which the food is grown, harvested, transported, stored, packaged, processed, and consumed. The physical contact of the food with its environment results in its contamination. Possible sources of contamination are:
Air: radionuclides (137
Caesium, 90Strontium), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Water:
arsenic, mercury.
Soil:
cadmium, nitrates, perchlorates.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) , dioxins, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are ubiquitous chemicals, which are present in air, water, soil, and the entire biosphere.
Packaging materials:
antimony, tin, lead, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), semicarbazide, benzophenone, isopropylthioxanthone (ITX), bisphenol A.
Processing/cooking equipment:
copper, or other metal chips, lubricants, cleaning and sanitizing agents.
Naturally occurring toxins:
mycotoxins, phytohaemagglutinin, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, grayanotoxin, mushroom toxins, scombrotoxin (histamine), ciguatera, shellfish toxins (see shellfish poisoning), tetrodotoxin, among many others.

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