PMID- 31891522
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20200316
LR  - 20200316
IS  - 1552-9924 (Electronic)
IS  - 0091-6765 (Print)
IS  - 0091-6765 (Linking)
VI  - 127
IP  - 12
DP  - 2019 Dec
TI  - Occurrence of Selected Organic Contaminants in Edible Insects and Assessment of 
      Their Chemical Safety.
PG  - 127009
LID - 10.1289/EHP5782 [doi]
LID - 127009
AB  - BACKGROUND: Feeding the continuously growing world population is challenging, and 
      edible insects offer a sustainable alternative to conventional sources of animal 
      proteins. As with any food source, the potential presence of hazardous organic 
      chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), plasticizers and flame 
      retardants (FRs), must be investigated to guarantee consumer chemical safety. 
      OBJECTIVES: Here, we have investigated the contamination levels of several 
      classes of organic compounds in edible insects. To evaluate their chemical 
      safety, a dietary exposure risk assessment was then performed by combining the 
      measured chemical contamination with the most recent food consumption data from 
      local surveys. METHODS: Insect samples, belonging to six orders (Orthoptera, 
      Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Odonata, Hymenoptera) were purchased from 
      five European and three Asian countries. POPs and halogenated FRs were analyzed 
      by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and organophosphorus FRs and 
      plasticizers were quantified by liquid chromatography-MS/MS, according to 
      validated protocols. RESULTS: The overall levels of chemical contamination varied 
      greatly among the insect orders and country of purchase, but they were generally 
      low and comparable with other commonly consumed animal products. DISCUSSION: Here 
      we show that, besides the activities during rearing, the industrial 
      post-harvesting handling and addition of ingredients are supplementary factors 
      influencing the chemical load of the final insect food-product. The total 
      estimated dietary intakes of the considered classes of compounds through insect 
      consumption are comparable with those generally assessed in common food of animal 
      origin worldwide and, when compared with existing reference dose values, suggest 
      that the risk of adverse health effects from exposure to the targeted organic 
      compounds via insect consumption is unlikely. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5782.
FAU - Poma, Giulia
AU  - Poma G
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
FAU - Yin, Shanshan
AU  - Yin S
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
AD  - Institute of Environmental Health, College of Environmental and Resource 
      Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
FAU - Tang, Bin
AU  - Tang B
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
AD  - State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Key Laboratory of 
      Environmental Resources Utilization and Protection, Guangzhou Institute of 
      Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
FAU - Fujii, Yukiko
AU  - Fujii Y
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
AD  - Daiichi University of Pharmacy, Fukuoka, Japan.
FAU - Cuykx, Matthias
AU  - Cuykx M
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
FAU - Covaci, Adrian
AU  - Covaci A
AD  - Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20191231
PL  - United States
TA  - Environ Health Perspect
JT  - Environmental health perspectives
JID - 0330411
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
RN  - 0 (Organic Chemicals)
SB  - IM
CIN - Environ Health Perspect. 2020 Aug;128(8):84004. PMID: 32866075
MH  - Animals
MH  - Dietary Exposure/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Edible Insects/*chemistry
MH  - Environmental Monitoring
MH  - Environmental Pollutants/*analysis
MH  - Food Contamination/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Humans
MH  - Organic Chemicals/*analysis
MH  - Risk Assessment
PMC - PMC6957287
EDAT- 2020/01/01 06:00
MHDA- 2020/03/17 06:00
PMCR- 2019/12/31
CRDT- 2020/01/01 06:00
PHST- 2020/01/01 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/01/01 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/03/17 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2019/12/31 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - EHP5782 [pii]
AID - 10.1289/EHP5782 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Environ Health Perspect. 2019 Dec;127(12):127009. doi: 10.1289/EHP5782. Epub 2019 
      Dec 31.