FSA Publishes Research on Mixed Dioxins

This latest research developed methods that are able to detect mixed halogenated dioxins and biphenyls in food. Very low levels of these chemicals were found in a wide range of food samples and are not a risk to health.

3/25/2011 --- The Food Standards Agency has published the outcome of a two-year investigation into the presence of mixed halogenated dioxins and biphenyls in food.

Burning any material produces a range of chemicals that could be harmful to health, these include chlorinated dioxins, mixed halogenated dioxins and biphenyls. A lot of research has been done to find out more about chlorinated dioxins, but little is known about mixed halogenated dioxins and biphenyls, which is why the Agency decided to look at them.

This is one of the very first studies of its kind anywhere in the world and is part of the Agency’s programme of investigations into emerging risks.

There are thousands of different mixed halogenated dioxins that may be formed, which has made analysis very difficult and, although they have been reported in air and soil near sites burning electronic waste, it has not previously been known at what level they may be present in food.

This latest research developed methods that are able to detect mixed halogenated dioxins and biphenyls in food. Very low levels of these chemicals were found in a wide range of food samples and are not a risk to health.

The UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has reviewed the results and concluded that they do not indicate a concern for health.