Assessment of infant exposure to food chemicals: the French Total Diet Study design

As part of the previous French Total Diet Studies (TDS) focusing on exposure to food chemicals in the population aged 3 years and older, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) launched a specific TDS on infants to complete its overall chemical food safety programme for the general population. More than 500 chemical substances were analysed in food products consumed by children under 3 years old, including nutrients, several endocrine disruptors resulting from human activities (polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and furans, brominated flame retardants, perfluoroalkyl acids, pesticide residues, etc.) or migrating from food contact materials such as bisphenol A or phthalates, but also natural substances such as mycotoxins, phytoestrogens and steroids. To obtain a representative and general view of infant food consumption, food items were selected based on results of a national consumption survey conducted specifically on this population. Moreover, a specific study ...