Daily intake of anthropogenic pollutants through yogurt consumption in the Spanish population

In the present study we have quantified the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in commercially available brands of yogurt (17 conventional and 15 organic) present in the Spanish market, with the goal of estimating the daily intake of these contaminants by the Spanish population through the yogurt consumption. On the one hand, with respect to organochlorine contaminants (OCPs and PCBs) our results showed that hexachlorobenzene, p,p'-DDE, and all the PCBs congeners that are considered markers of environmental contamination were present in almost all the yogurt samples. The concentrations of these pollutants were found to be very low [well below the toxicological standard limits established by the European Union (http://ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/?event=homepage)] in almost all the samples, but were even lower in organic than in conventionally produced yogurts. It is remarkable that in some of the samples (six conventional and three organic yogurts) the current maximum level for dioxin-like PCBs (2.5pg WHO-TEQ/g(-1) fat) was exceeded. On the other hand, with respect to PAHs, the mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and chrysene were frequently detected in yogurt. From these results we have estimated that the daily intake of these pollutants is in general low. However, it should be highlighted that if the consumer inadvertently choose certain yogurts they could be exposed to high amounts of certain pollutants, that could be even higher than the tolerated daily intakes established by the European Union.