Chronic dietary risk assessment of Lead at FoodEx2

Lead occurs primarily in the inorganic form in the environment. Human exposure is mainly via food and water, with some via air, dust and soil. Lead is considered to be responsible for developmental neurotoxicity in young children and cardiovascular effects and nephrotoxicity in adults.
In the current report the dietary exposure of the target population is studied using ImproRisk model v.0.3.2. The aim of this risk assessment study was to estimate the dietary Lead intake of the population in Cyprus, to carry out the necessary risk characterization and to calculate the contribution rate of the major food groups to the Lead exposure.
Mean dietary Lead exposure of the Cypriot population was calculated as 0.17 and 0.37 μg/kg b.w./day for mean and high consumers, respectively. Current exposure levels of Cypriot population are not of health concern with regards to developmental neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and cardiovascular effects.
There was no significant difference in Lead intake between geographical areas and genders. It was found that infants, toddlers and other children had higher exposure values due to their lower body weight and their consumption habits.
In general, almost all food categories contributed to Lead exposure to Lead. Tomatoes, potatoes, cattle milk, poultry fresh meat, pig fresh meat and cereal flakes were the food categories with the highest contribution to the Lead intake.