Dietary exposure to cadmium in a northern italy population

Background and AimsCadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal which can bevery harmful to the human health, mainlyintroduced into the body through diet.Limited data are available on the amount ofCd contained in vegetable and animal foods.MethodsWe selected foods characterizing the diet ofEmilia-Romagna region population using theresults of an EPIC survey, by selecting from alist of 233 foods foodstuffs and drinks havingaverage consumption ≥3 g/day. Cddeterminations of foods were performed atIren Acqua Gas - IREN company, ReggioEmilia, using mass spectrometer inductivelycoupled plasma following mineralization ofthe food samples. From the results of theEPIC semi-quantitative food frequencyquestionnaire administered to 1099 residentsin the Emilia-Romagna region, we assesseddaily foodstuffs consumption and wecalculated dietary Cd intake.ResultsThe highest average Cd concentration (μgCd/100 g food) was found in cereals (1.14),fish and mussels (5.10), chocolate (8,5),vegetables (0.8) and particularly wildmushrooms (268,90).Average daily Cd intake in the studypopulation resulted to be 11.11 μg, mainlydue to intake of vegetables, wild mushrooms,cereals, fish and mussels.Considering that the European Food SafetyAuthority set in 2010 the tolerable Cd weeklyintake as 2.5 μg/kg body weight (25 μg/dayfor a 70-kg individual) daily intake calculatedin our population did not exceed such limit.According the EC Regulation 1881/2006, inour study only wild mushrooms (2,69 mg/kg)exceeded such limits.ConclusionsThe Cd weekly intake characterizing ourstudy population did not exceed the EFSAlimits. However, considering the high toxicityof this heavy metal particularly for chronicexposure and the relatively high intakeswhich may characterize consumers of largeamounts of wild mushrooms, vegetables,cereals and fish, the issue of dietary Cd intakein the Italian population and its relatedhealth effects appears to be an importantpublic health issue.