Long-term dietary exposure to lead in young European children: comparing a pan-European approach with a national exposure assessment

Long-term dietary exposures to lead in young children were calculated by combining food consumption data of 11 European countries categorised using harmonised broad food categories with occurrence data on lead from different Member States (pan-European approach). The results of the assessment in children living in the Netherlands were compared with a long-term lead intake assessment in the same group using Dutch lead concentration data and linking the consumption and concentration data at the highest possible level of detail. Exposures obtained with the pan-European approach were higher than the national exposure calculations. For both assessments cereals contributed most to the exposure. The lower dietary exposure in the national study was due to the use of lower lead concentrations and...

Plant food supplement (PFS) market structure in EC Member States, methods and techniques for the assessment of individual PFS intake

The popularity of herbal products, especially plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal medicine is on the rise in Europe and other parts of the world, with increased use in the general population as well as among specific subgroups encompassing children, women or those suffering from diseases such as cancer. The aim of this paper is to examine the PFS market structures in European Community (EC) Member States as well as to examine issues addressing methodologies and consumption data relating to PFS use in Europe. A revision of recent reports on market data, trends and main distribution channels, in addition an example of the consumption of PFS in Spain, is presented. An overview of the methods and administration techniques used...

Dietary exposure assessments for children in Europe (the EXPOCHI project): rationale, methods and design

[EN]The number of dietary exposure assessment studies focussing on children is very limited. Children are however a vulnerable group due to their higher food consumption level per kg body weight. Therefore, the EXPOCHI project aims [1] to create a relational network of individual food consumption databases in children, covering different geographical areas within Europe, and [2] to use these data to assess the usual intake of lead, chromium, selenium and food colours.