Estimation of the daily intake of hexachlorobenzene from food consumption by the population of Catalonia, Spain: Health risks Gemma Perelló a , Jesús Gómez-Catalán b , Victoria Castell c , Juan M. Llobet b , José L. Domingo a, * a Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Universitat “Rovira i Virgili”, Sant Llorenç 21, IISPV, 43201 Reus, Catalonia, Spain b GRET-CERETOX, School of Pharmacy, Department of Public Health, University of Barcelona, Avgda, Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain c Catalan Food Safety Agency, Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain article info Article history: Received 9 June 2011 Received in revised form 13 July 2011 Accepted 15 July 2011 Keywords: Hexachlorobenzene Food Total diet Human exposure Health risks Catalonia, Spain abstract In 2000 and 2006, we determined the dietary intake of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) by the population of Catalonia, Spain. In order to establish the temporal trend in the levels of HCB in foodstuffs, as well as in the dietary exposure to that environmental pollutant, the concentrations were again analyzed by HRGC/ HRMS in 65 composite food samples widely consumed by the Catalan population. Food samples were randomly purchased in NovembereDecember 2008 in local markets, small stores, supermarkets, and large grocery stores from 12 representative cities from Catalonia. The daily intake of HCB associated with this consumption was estimated for four age groups of the population of Catalonia: children, teenagers, adults and seniors, which were in turn divided according to sex. The highest mean HCB levels in food were detected in oils and fats (0.297 ng/g fw), dairy products (0.225 ng/g fw), and fish and seafood (0.170 ng/g fw). In the 2000 and 2006 surveys, total dietary intakes of HCB were 166.2 and 71.6 ng/day, respectively (or 2.4 and 1.0 ng/kg of body weight per day). In the current study, it was 37.7 ng/day (or 0.54 ng/kg of body weight per day), which means considerable decreases with respect to the previous intakes. According to recommendations of international regulatory organisms, the current dietary intake of HCB should not mean any significant health risk (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) for any of the age/gender groups of population here assessed. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a lipophilic organochlorine compound that was used as a seed dressing to prevent fungal disease for several crops from the late 1940s to the early 1970s (ATSDR, 2002; Reed, Buchner, & Tchounwou, 2007 . HCB is one of the 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed under the Stockholm Convention (Aylward, Hays, Gagné, Nong, & Krishnan, 2010). It has characteristics of persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and long- range environment transport, being extremely stable and globally distributed (Meijer et al., 2003). The US EPA has classified HCB as a probable human carcinogen (Group B2), while the US Department of Health and Human Services determined that HCB might be reasonably expected to be a carcinogen (ATSDR, 2002). In turn, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified HCB as possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B). In addition to cancer, the human health effects associated with HCB exposure involve systemic impairment (thyroid, liver, bone, skin), as well as damage to the kidneys, blood cells, and the immune, endocrine, developmental and nervous systems (Reed et al., 2007). A consis- tent downward trend in the environmental HCB levels has been noted over the past 25e30 years (Barber, Sweetman, van Wijk, & Jones, 2005). However, this trend seems not be quite general yet. For example, in the limited studies on temporal trends of HCB levels in China, HCB concentrations in air, sediment, fish and human milk did not show a consistent decreasing trend (Wang et al., 2010). In order to prevent human exposure to microbiological and chemical contaminants, dietary exposure studies are of great interest (Brera et al., 2011; Coronel, Marin, Cano, Ramos, & Sanchis, 2011; Domingo & Bocio, 2007; Iñigo-Núñez, Herreros, Encinas, & González-Bulnes, 2010; Martí-Cid et al., 2010; Martorell et al., 2010; Shundo, Navas, Lamardo, Ruvieri, & Sabino, 2009). Although exposure to HCB can occur through the inhalation of HCB- contaminated air, by dermal contact, or through in utero exposure and breast milk, as for many other organic contaminants, non- occupational exposure to HCB is primarily due to eating low levels of this compound in contaminated food (ATSDR, 2002; Martí- Cid, Llobet, Castell, & Domingo, 2008; Reed et al., 2007). In 2000, we * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 977 759380; fax: þ34 977 759322. E-mail address: joseluis.domingo@urv.cat (J. L. Domingo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont 0956-7135/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2011.07.010 Food Control 23 (2012) 198e202