Updated statement of the BfR on perchlorate

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Mar 9, 2018 - Analytics

Updated statement of the BfR on perchlorate

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) published its updated opinion (No. 006/2018) “The entry of perchlorate into the food chain should be reduced” on February 15, 2018.

Perchlorates are salts of perchloric acid that occur naturally in some fertilizers, such as Chilean nitrate, and are absorbed by plants. The main entry path for industrial uses is suspected to be the contact of food with water previously treated with chlorine-containing biocide products for disinfection. Perchlorate is formed as a disinfection by-product and enters the food in this way.

Exposure to perchlorate can lead to the inhibition of iodine uptake in humans. In 2014, the EFSA derived a tolerable daily intake (TDI) for perchlorate of 0.3 µg per kg body weight, based on the inhibition of iodine uptake in healthy adults.

Long-term exposure to perchlorate poses a potential health risk for consumers, particularly for younger populations such as infants with iodine deficiency or breastfed infants from mothers with iodine deficiency.

There are currently no legal maximum levels for perchlorate. Based on monitoring studies, the EU Commission has set transitional values. Following the so-called ALARA principle (ALARA = as low as reasonably achievable), perchlorate levels should be kept as low as technologically possible to reduce the entry of perchlorate into the food chain and therefore reduce consumer exposure.

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Source: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment - http://www.bfr.bund.de