Dioxin intake of the german population of meat and meat products

The dioxin contamination of different kinds of meat and meat products was s tudied in a representative study. Their contributions to the total dioxin i ntake of the German population was calculated. The reported results on meat and meat products are part of a scientific programme to study the dioxin c ontents of all important kinds of foods in Germany. It could be shown that the usually used contribution of meat for calculations of about 30 % of the total dioxin intake was too high due to several reasons. The true contribu tion is only 13 %. The congenere 2, 3, 4, 7,8-Pentachloro-dibenzo-furan pla ys the most important role in nearly all kinds of meat. In beef it supplies the only important contribution to the total toxicity equivalent (TEQ). Th e following sequence for TEQ in ng TEQ/kg fat was found: Beef (0.46) > poul try (0.22) > liver sausages (0.21) > Salami type sausages (0.15) > Bologna type sausages (0.13) > raw ham (0.08) > pork (0.07). A distinct geographical dependence was found: The highest dioxin concentrat ions were observed in meat of the western parts of Germany, the lowest in t he Southern regions. The northern and eastern parts exhibited intermediate concentrations. The daily dioxin intake of the Germans is only about 6% of the lower border of the proposed acceptable daily dioxin range of the WHO ( 1 to 4 pg TEQ/kg body weight and day).