BfR advises against taking over the new toxic equivalency factors (WHO-TEFs) into the statutory EU provisions for food and feed

Dioxin and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous in the environment and up to 90-95% of them are ingested by people from food. In food there is mostly a mixture of these substances. In order to improve the estimation of the toxicity of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, the system of toxic equivalents (TEQs) was introduced. The toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) play a key role in calculating the toxic equivalents (TEQs). The World Health Organisation (WHO) compiled a list of toxic equivalency factors (WHO-TEFs) in 1998 on the basis of which the EU maximum levels for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food were established. The BfR health assessments are also done on the basis of the WHO-TEFs in conjunction with the WHO TDI (tolerable daily intake) for WHO-TEQs. In its review of the WHO-TEFs, WHO has now proposed adjusted factors for some dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. BfR was asked to assess the new WHO-TEFs. 
 
The changes to some WHO-TEFs, which have now been undertaken, are based according to WHO on provisional and statistical considerations in conjunction with an unchanged toxicological data situation and constitute an interim solution. 
 
Calculations by BfR by way of example show that the new TEFs in some cases lead to TEQ values which are between 10-20% lower, i.e. lead to a lower classification of the toxicity of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. This means that, as a consequence of the new WHO-TEFs, consumers could ingest higher levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs from food until in purely arithmetic terms the maximum tolerable daily intake laid down by WHO of 1-4 picogram WHO-TEQ per kilogram (pg/kg) body weight would be reached. In order to maintain the level of consumer health protection, BfR recommends continuing to use the WHO-TEFs from 1998 given that further dioxin-like substances are also to be taken into account. Only when new toxicologically relevant findings are available, should the factors be adjusted.