Scenario studies on maximum levels for dioxins, dibenzofurans and dioxin-like PCBs in fish

Dioxins, dibenzofurans and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (together called 'dioxins') are persistent environmental contaminants with a comparable chemical structure and similar toxicological characteristics. Since fish is one of the food items containing variable and sometimes high amounts of dioxins, the authorities asked RIVM, RIKILT and RIVO to investigate the possibility of setting maximum levels for dioxins in fish in order to protect fish consumers from high intake of these contaminants. To this, scenario studies were performed estimating the effect of several hypothetical maximum levels for dioxins in fish on the intake of these compounds by fish consumers and the percentage of various fish species that can be expected not to comply with these maximum levels. The studies show that in general the intake reduction will be limited to about 2-8%, while the percentage of non-compliance varies between 0.1 and 10. The available datasets on which these estimations had to be based are very limited. Moreover, the regular consumption of fish has positive health effects too due to the amounts of -3 unsaturated fatty acids