Assessment of PCDD/F, PCB, OCP and BPA dietary exposure of non-breast-fed European infants

The aim of this study is to obtain data on the exposure of non-breast-fed infants to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP), and bisphenol A (BPA) and its chlorinated derivatives through consumption of commercial infant foods with largest shares of the market in 22 European Union countries. The E-Screen bioassay was employed to assess the oestrogenicity of the baby foods and the ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) induction was measured to determine the levels of PCDD/F and PCB. Consequently, the highest total effective xenoestrogen burden (TEXB) of 73.60 pM Eeq g−1 was found in the soy-based formula and the EROD bioassay was always below the limit of quantification (LOQ) (3.5 pg g−1). Overall, the estimated dietary exposure to BPA via commercial baby foods was lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 50 µg kg−1 body weight (bw). Furthermore, the findings indicated that the dietary exposure of 0–9-month-old infan...