Surveillance of the daily PCB intake from diet of Japanese women from 1972 through 1976

Abstract

A survey of the daily PCB intake from the total diet of Japanese women was made for the years 1972 through 1976. All but one sample of 177 samples analyzed were contaminated with PCBs. Only one sample exceeded the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of PCBs of 5 micrograms/kg body weight in Japan. The average daily intake of PCBs per person was approximately 10 micrograms, which was very low compared to the ADI value. The main source of PCBs in the diet in Japan was inshore fishes, in contrast to fresh water fishes as in the U.S.A. The data obtained from this surveillance showed no statistically significant change of daily PCB intake from the diet during this 5-year period. However, there has been a marked decrease in the estimated intake of PCBs since 1972. Gas chromatograph analysis of the residual PCB patterns in the diet showed that the patterns in the marine products were somewhat different from those in dairy, meat, and poultry products. The former was similar to the pattern of the PCB standards mixture and the latter was similar to the PCB pattern found in human milk and tissue samples from the Japanese population.