Chemical mixtures in the EU population: composition and potential risks

By combining human biomonitoring data from the HBM4EU project we derived generic chemical mixtures representative of a median (P50) and a worst-case scenario (P95) for the European adult and children populations. The mixtures comprise 136 biomarkers for adults and 84 for children, although concentration levels could be estimated for a fraction of these due to analytical limitations. Phthalates were the substance group with most data records in the dataset, followed by flame retardants, poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides (mostly organophosphates) and various metals. Using biomonitoring equivalents (BEs) as internal thresholds of concern we assessed risks for subset of 20 substances for adults and 17 for children. Based on the conservative assumption of concentration addition applied across different toxicological endpoints, the mixture hazard index ranged from 2.8 (P50, children) to 9.2 (P95, adults). Maximum cumulative ratios (MCRs) derived to characterise the mixture profile, ranged between 2.6 and 5.7, showing that about one third of the chemicals considered contributes to the overall hazard index. The limited coverage of substances included in the calculations and the application of a hazard index to different toxicological endpoints point to caution in the interpretation of results. Nonetheless the derived MCRs can help inform a possible mixture assessment factor (MAF) applicable to single substance assessments to account for unintentional mixtures.

SOCIANU Sebastian;  BOPP Stephanie;  GOVARTS Eva;  GILLES Liese;  BUEKERS Jurgen;  KOLOSSA-GEHRING Marike;  BACKHAUS Thomas;  FRANCO Antonio; 

2022-08-03

MDPI

JRC128495

1661-7827 (online),   

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6121,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128495,   

10.3390/ijerph19106121 (online),