Environmental Contaminants
Environmental contaminants are chemicals that are present in the environment in which the food is grown, harvested, transported, stored, packaged, processed, and consumed. The physical contact of the food with its environment results in its contamination. Possible sources of contamination include:
- Air: radionuclides (137Caesium, 90Strontium), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
- Water: arsenic, mercury
- Soil: cadmium, nitrates, perchlorates
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), dioxins, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) are ubiquitous chemicals
- Packaging materials: antimony, tin, lead, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), semicarbazide, benzophenone, isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX), bisphenol A
- Processing/cooking equipment: copper, or other metal chips, lubricants, cleaning, and sanitizing agents
- Naturally occurring toxins: mycotoxins, phytohaemagglutinin, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, grayanotoxin, mushroom toxins, scombrotoxin (histamine), ciguatera, shellfish toxins (see shellfish poisoning), tetrodotoxin, among many others.
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