Environmental Research 97 (2005) 1–9 Daily intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs) in foodstuffs consumed in Tarragona, Spain: a review of recent studies (2001–2003) on human PCDD/PCDF exposure through the diet Ana Bocio and Jose L. Domingo* Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, ‘‘Rovira i Virgili’’ University, San Lorenzo 21, 43201 Reus, Spain Received 4 September 2003; received in revised form 30 December 2003; accepted 12 January 2004 Abstract Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) were measured in foodstuffs randomly acquired in various locations of Tarragona County (Catalonia, Spain) in September 2002. A total of 36 composite samples, belonging to various food groups (vegetables, fruits, meat and meat products, fish and seafood, cereals, pulses, milk, dairy products, eggs, and oils and fats) were analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. The dietary intake of PCDD/Fs was subsequently determined. For calculations, recent data on consumption of the selected food items were used. Total dietary intake of PCDD/Fs for the general population of Tarragona County was estimated to be 59.6pg I-TEQ/day (63.8pg WHO-TEQ/day). Fish and seafood (33.7%), oils and fats (15.3%), cereals (14.4%), and dairy products (13.7%) were the most important contributors to this intake. This PCDD/F intake is notably lower than the intake estimated in 1998 for the same geographical area, 210.1 pg I-TEQ/day. The current PCDD/F dietary intake is below the tolerable intake range of 1–4 pg TEQ/kg body weight/day established by the WHO in 1998. Finally, the current intake is compared with the dietary intakes of PCDD/Fs recently (2001–2003) reported for a number of regions and countries. r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Dioxins and furans; Food; Human exposure; Dietary intake; Toxicity equivalents (TEQs) 1. Introduction Incineration has been demonstrated to be a commer- cially available technology for hazardous waste disposal. During the period 1996–1998, a new hazardous waste incinerator (HWI) was constructed in Constantı´ (Tarra- gona, Spain). Regular operations were initiated in 1999. To date, this is the only HWI in Spain. Consequently, the interest and concern about its environmental impact and health risks potentially derived from emissions of toxic pollutants, mainly metals, polychlorinated diben- zo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofur- ans (PCDF), has been (and still remains) very notable in the public opinion. In response to this concern, a wide preoperational environmental and biological monitoring program for metals and PCDD/PCDFs was established during the construction of the facility. PCDD/PCDFs are ubiquitous environmental con- taminants, which persist and bioaccumulate through the food chain. Although in a HWI, emission levels of these organic pollutants are frequently three or four orders of magnitude lower than those found in emissions from municipal waste incinerators (Oppelt, 1990; Dempsey and Oppelt, 1993), because of the public fear about PCDD/PCDFs, in the preoperational monitoring pro- gram especial attention was paid to these toxic compounds. The levels of PCDD/PCDFs were deter- mined in soil and herbage samples collected in the vicinity of the HWI during the period of construction (Schuhmacher et al., 1997, 1998). Moreover, samples of blood, breast milk and adipose tissue were obtained from subjects living in the neighborhood of the facility and analyzed for baseline concentrations of PCDD/ PCDFs (Schuhmacher et al., 1999a–c). ARTICLE IN PRESS *Corresponding author. Fax: +34-977-759322. E-mail address: jlldr@fmcs.urv.es (J.L. Domingo). 0013-9351/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2004.01.012