Journal
FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY
Volume 100, Issue -, Pages 42-49Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2016.12.010
Keywords
Nitrate; Vegetables; Estimated intake; Dietary exposure; Risk assessment
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study was carried out to determine current levels of nitrate in vegetables marketed in the Region of Valencia (Spain) and to estimate the toxicological risk associated with their intake. A total of 533 samples of seven vegetable species were studied. Nitrate levels were derived from the Valencia Region monitoring programme carried out from 2009 to 2013 and food consumption levels were taken from the first Valencia Food Consumption Survey, conducted in 2010. The exposure was estimated using a probabilistic approach and two scenarios were assumed for left-censored data: the lower-bound scenario, in which unquantified results (below the limit of quantification) were set to zero and the upper-bound scenario, in which unquantified results were set to the limit of quantification value. The exposure of the Valencia consumers to nitrate through the consumption of vegetable products appears to be relatively low. In the adult population (16-95 years) the P99.9 was 3.13 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) and 3.15 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) in the lower bound and upper bound scenario, respectively. On the other hand, for young people (6-15 years) the P99.9 of the exposure was 4.20 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) and 4.40 mg kg(-1) body weight day(-1) in the lower bound and upper bound scenario, respectively. The risk characterisation indicates that, under the upper bound scenario, 0.79% of adults and 1.39% of young people can exceed the Acceptable Daily Intake of nitrate. This percentage could join the vegetable extreme consumers (such as vegetarians) of vegetables. Overall, the estimated exposures to nitrate from vegetables are unlikely to result in appreciable health risks. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available