Survey of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and non-ortho-polychlorinated biphenyls in US meat and poultry, 2012–13: toxic equivalency levels, patterns, temporal trends and implications

ABSTRACTThe US Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts a statistically based survey of the domestic meat supply (beef, pork, chicken and turkey) to determine current levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and non-ortho-polychlorinated biphenyls (no-PCBs) every 5 years. Fat samples for each slaughter class were collected from US federally licensed slaughter facilities. The samples were processed and analysed for 17 PCDD/Fs and three no-PCBs. The sum of PCDD, PCDF and no-PCB toxic equivalencies (sum-TEQ) calculated using 2005 toxic-equivalency factors for all slaughter classes ranged from non-detect (n.d.) to 6.47 pg TEQ g–1 lipid. The median sum-TEQs, when n.d. = 0.5 LOD, for beef, pork, chicken and turkey were 0.66, 0.12, 0.13 and 0.34 pg TEQ g–1 lipid respectively. A comparison of the current survey with the previous three surveys shows a declining trend, with decreasing differences between medians; differences between the median sum-TEQs from 2007–08...