Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PCDD/Fs, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are among the most important and hazardous pollutants of soil. Food producing animals such as chicken, beef, sheep and goats can take up soil while grazing or living outdoors (free-range) and this can result in contamination.In recent decades, large quantities of brominated flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and per- and polyfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) have been produced and released into the environment and this has resulted in widespread contamination of soils and other environmental matrices. These POPs also bioaccumulate and can contaminate food of animal origin resulting in indirect exposure of humans.Recent assessments of chicken and beef have shown that surprisingly low concentrations of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in soil can result in exceedances of regulatory limits in food. Soil contamination limits have been established in a number of countries for PCDD/Fs but it has been shown that the contamination levels which result in regulatory limits in food (the maximum levels in the European Union) being exceeded, are below all the existing soil regulatory limits. ‘Safe’ soil levels are exceeded in many areas around emission sources of PCDD/Fs and PCBs. On the other hand, PCDD/F and dioxin-like PCB levels in soil in rural areas, without a contamination source, are normally safe for food producing animals housed outdoors resulting in healthy food (e.g. meat, eggs, milk).For the majority of POPs (e.g. PBDEs, PFOS, PFOA, SCCP) no regulatory limits in soils exist.There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop appropriate and protective soil standards minimising human exposure from food producing animals housed outdoors. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to eliminate POPs pollution sources for soils and to control, secure and remediate contaminated sites and reservoirs, in order to reduce exposure and guarantee food safety.

Food products are inevitably contaminated by flame retardants throughout their lifecycle (i.e., during production, use, and disposal). In order to evaluate the dietary intake of legacy and emerging halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) in typical market food in China, we investigate the distribution and profile of 27 legacy polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and 16 emerging HFRs (EHFRs) in 9 food categories (meat, poultry, aquatic food, eggs, dairy products, cereals, vegetables, nuts and fruits, and sugar). A total of 105 food samples collected from three markets in Nanjing, eastern China were included for evaluation. The highest concentrations of PBDEs and EHFRs were found in aquatic foods (means of 0.834 ng/g wet weight (ww) and 0.348 ng/g ww, respectively), and the lowest concentrations were found in sugar (means of 0.020 ng/g ww for PBDEs and 0.014 ng/g ww for EHFRs). 2,2′,4-tribromodiphenyl ether (BDE-17), a legacy HFR, and hexabromobenzene (HBBz), an EHFR, were the predominant pollutants in the investigated food samples. Concentrations of HBBz and 2,3-dibromopropyl tribromophenyl ether (DPTE) were comparable to those of some PBDEs in certain food samples. The concentrations of the total EHFRs and total PBDEs found in animal-based food samples were significantly greater than those in plant-based food samples. Comparison of the estimated total dietary intake of HFRs and their corresponding non-cancer reference dose (United States Environmental Protection Agency) suggests a low overall health risk. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to simultaneously determine 27 PBDEs and 16 EHFRs in representative foods from Chinese markets. BDE-17, HBBz, and DPTE were the predominant congeners among the 43 investigated HFRs and meat and aquatic foods were the primary sources of PBDEs and EHFRs to the total local dietary intake.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment and often ingested with food. PFAS exposure in people can have detrimental health consequences. Therefore, reducing PFAS burdens in food items is of great importance to public health. Here, we investigated whether cooking reduces PFAS concentrations in animal-derived food products by synthesizing experimental studies. Further, we examined the moderating effects of the following five variables: cooking time, liquid/animal tissue ratio, cooking temperature, carbon chain length of PFAS and the cooking category (oil-based, water-based & no-liquid cooking). In our systematic review searches, we obtained 512 effect sizes (relative differences in PFAS concentration between raw and cooked samples) from 10 relevant studies. These studies exclusively explored changes in PFAS concentrations in cooked seafood and freshwater fish. Our multilevel-meta-analysis has revealed that, on average, cooking reduced PFAS concentrations by 29%, although heterogeneity among effect sizes was very high (I² = 94.65%). Our five moderators cumulatively explained 49% of the observed heterogeneity. Specifically, an increase in cooking time and liquid/animal tissue ratio, as well as shorter carbon chain length of PFAS (when cooked with oil) were associated with significant reductions in PFAS concentrations. The effects of different ways of cooking depended on the other moderators, while the effect of cooking temperature itself was not significant. Overall, cooking can reduce PFAS concentrations in blue food (seafood and freshwater fish). However, it is important to note that complete PFAS elimination requires unrealistically long cooking times and large liquid/animal tissue ratios. Currently, literature on the impact of cooking of terrestrial animal produce on PFAS concentrations is lacking, which limits the inference and generalisation of our meta-analysis. However, our work represents the first step towards developing guidelines to reduce PFAS in food via cooking exclusively with common kitchen items and techniques.

1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a brominated flame retardant that is used worldwide in expanded and extruded polystyrene foam and simultaneously emitted to the environment. HBCD can easily accumulate in animals and humans and cause neurotoxicity, thyroid hormone disruption, and reproductive disorders. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the HBCD concentrations in foods and estimate the human exposure through the diet. In this study a total of 521 food samples from eight food categories were sampled and analyzed for their HBCD content. Based on consumption data, the average dietary intake of the general Korean population and specific subgroups was calculated. The highest levels of HBCD were found in fish and shellfish (0.47 ng g−1 ww), and this was attributed to natural exposure to the contaminated marine environments and the HBCD bioaccumulation. In addition, the use of expanded polystyrene buoys in aquaculture was also found to be a potential source of HBCD in bivalves. The high solubility of α-HBCD in water and the persistence of this diastereomer compared to β- and γ-HBCD in biological tissues, led to higher accumulation of α-HBCD in animal-based foods. In contrast, the diastereomeric selectivity and lower metabolic capacity in plants compared with animals led to the predominance of γ-HBCD in plant-based foods. The dietary intake of HBCD was estimated to be 0.82 ng kg−1 bw d−1 in the general population and 2.89 ng kg−1 bw d−1 in children up to 5 years of age. The high HBCD intake in children was found to be a result of their lower body weight and their high consumption of milk and homemade Korean baby foods that usually contain fish.

Intensive animal farming emits to the environment very high concentrations of bioaerosol, mainly composed of microorganisms, including antibiotics resistant strains, and their derivatives. Poland is a significant producer of poultry and swine in Europe; Ukraine is located in the immediate vicinity of Poland and the EU. Thus, the review focuses on the presence of potentially pathogenic and antimicrobial-resistant zoonotic bacteria and antimicrobial genes in the environment of farms and food of animal origin in Poland and Ukraine. Existing data confirms presence of these bacteria in the food animal origin chain environment in both countries. However, it is difficult to compare the scale of multidrug-resistant bacteria (e.g. MRSA, ESBL) dissemination in Poland and Ukraine with other EU countries due to lack of more extensive studies and large-scale monitoring in these two countries. A series of studies concerning resistance of pathogenic bacteria isolated from livestock environment have been published in Poland but usually on single farms with a very limited number of samples, and without a genotypic drug resistance marking. From Ukraine are available only few reports, but also disturbing. The risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria transmission does not only concern animal farming, but also other facilities of animal origin food supply chains, especially slaughterhouses.

The marked increase in the demand for animal protein of high quality necessitates protecting animals from infectious diseases. This requires increasing the use of veterinary therapeutics. The overuse and misuse of veterinary products can cause a risk to human health either as short-term or long-term health problems. However, the biggest problem is the emergence of resistant strains of bacteria or parasites. This is in addition to economic losses due to the discarding of polluted milk or condemnation of affected carcasses. This paper discusses three key points: possible sources of drug and chemical residues, human health problems, and the possible method of control and prevention of veterinary drug residues in animal products.

This report gives a summary of the historic use, former management and current release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Germany and assesses the impact of the life cycle of PCBs on the contamination of the environment and of food products of animal origin. In Germany 60,000 t of PCBs were used in transformers, capacitors or as hydraulic oils. The use of PCB oils in these “closed applications”, has been banned in Germany in 2000. Thirty to 50% of these PCBs were not appropriately managed. In West Germany, 24,000 t of PCBs were used in open applications, mainly as additive (plasticiser, flame retardant) in sealants and paints in buildings and other construction. The continued use in open applications has not been banned, and in 2013, an estimated more than 12,000 t of PCBs were still present in buildings and other constructions. These open PCB applications continuously emit PCBs into the environment with an estimated release of 7–12 t per year. This amount is in agreement with deposition measurements (estimated to 18 t) and emission estimates for Switzerland. The atmospheric PCB releases still have an relevant impact on vegetation and livestock feed. In addition, PCBs in open applications on farms are still a sources of contamination for farmed animals. Furthermore, the historic production, use, recycling and disposal of PCBs have contaminated soils along the lifecycle. This legacy of contaminated soils and contaminated feed, individually or collectively, can lead to exceedance of maximum levels in food products from animals. In beef and chicken, soil levels of 5 ng PCB-TEQ/kg and for chicken with high soil exposure even 2 ng PCB-TEQ/kg can lead to exceedance of EU limits in meat and eggs. Areas at and around industries having produced or used or managed PCBs, or facilities and areas where PCBs were disposed need to be assessed in respect to potential contamination of food-producing animals. For a large share of impacted land, management measures applicable on farm level might be sufficient to continue with food production. Open PCB applications need to be inventoried and better managed. Other persistent and toxic chemicals used as alternatives to PCBs, e.g. short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), should be assessed in the life cycle for exposure of food-producing animals and humans.

To assess the health risks due to food consumption, the human daily intake and uptake of organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and toxic trace elements (mercury, chromium, cadmium, lead, and arsenic) were estimated based on the animal-based foods collected from markets in Shanghai, China. The estimated daily intake and uptake considering the contaminant bioaccessibility via single food consumption were 9.4–399 and 4.2–282 ng/kg body weight/day for adults, and 10.8–458 and 4.8–323 ng/kg body weight/day for children, respectively. These values were 0.2–104 and 0.05–58.1, and 0.2–119 and 0.06–66.6 ng/kg body weight/day via multiple food consumption for adults and children, respectively. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment method, the non-cancer and cancer health risks posed by the contaminants were estimated using the hazard quotient and the lifetime cancer risk method, respectively. The results showed that the combined hazard quotient values for multiple contaminants via single or multiple food consumption were below 1, suggesting that the residents in Shanghai would not experience a significant non-cancer health risk. Among the contaminants investigated, the potential non-cancer risk of methylmercury was highest. However, the combined cancer risk posed by multiple contaminants in most foods exceeded the accepted risk level of 10⁻⁶, and inorganic arsenic was the main contributor. The risks caused by polybrominated diphenyl ethers for cancer and non-cancer effects were negligible. The cancer risk of inorganic arsenic is a matter of concern in animal-based foods from Shanghai markets.

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that phthalic acid esters (PAE), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and organochlorine pesticides (OCP) are related to mutagenic, carcinogenic, and endocrine disruptor effects (EDCs). These lipophilic compounds are highly resistant to breakdown processes, and consequently remain in the environment, followed by uptake into the food chain. Human exposure to lipophilic compounds results from the consumption of food containing EDCs, mainly foodstuffs of animal origin with a high fat content, since these contaminants accumulate in fatty tissues. Foodstuffs in which EDCs can accumulate include meat, fish, eggs, and milk. We investigated the contamination in edible eggs to determine whether relative differences in the contaminants’ residue levels appeared in three types of egg production (i.e., battery, free-range, and organic). The results showed that PAEs, especially dimethyl phthalate contamination, was the most abundant in the battery eggs, and the PCBs, PBDEs, and OCPs were the most abundant in the free-range eggs. The eggs were contaminated by more than one chemical, and as many as five contaminants (PCB180, PBDE47, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, and di-n-butyl phthalate in battery eggs, and PCB138, PCB153, PCB180, diethyl phthalate, and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate in organic eggs) were detected in the same egg. However, none of the chemicals detected were at the maximum limit of acceptable risk.

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant that can get entry into human body via ingestion of contaminated foods causing multiple organ damage. This study aimed at monitoring Cd residues in 20 foodstuffs of animal origin that are commonly consumed in Egypt. Health risk assessment was conducted via calculation of Cd dietary intakes and non-carcinogenic target hazard quotient. An in vitro approach was performed to investigate the constitutive effects of Cd on human hepatoma (HepG2) cells under food-relevant concentrations. Trials to reduce Cd-induced adverse effects on HepG2 cells were done using rosmarinic (RMA) and ascorbic acids (ASA). The achieved results indicated contamination of the tested foodstuffs with Cd at high levels with potential human health hazards. Cd at food-relevant concentrations caused significant cytotoxicity to HepG2 cells. This may be attributed to induction of oxidative stress and inflammation, as indicated by the overexpression of stress and inflammatory markers. At the same time, Cd downregulated xenobiotic transporters and upregulated the proliferation factors. Co-exposure of HepG2 cells to Cd and micronutrients such as RMA and ASA led to recovery of cells from the oxidative damage, and subsequently cell viability was strongly improved. RMA and ASA ameliorated the biological responses of HepG2 cells to Cd exposure.