Radionuclides and Toxic Metals

Foods and feed can become contaminated by various causes and processes. Contamination generally has a negative impact on the quality of the food or feed and may imply a risk to human or animal health or a barrier to trade. Contamination levels in foods shall be as low as reasonably achievable. The following actions may serve to prevent or to reduce contamination of foods and feeds:

• preventing food contamination at the source, e.g. by reducing environmental pollution; it should be emphasised that the use of phosphate-based fertilisers actually might represent an unsuspected source of radionuclides and toxic metals in the food and feeds;
• applying appropriate technology in food production, handling, storage, processing and packaging;
• applying measures aimed at decontaminating food or feed, and measures to prevent contaminated food or feed to be marketed for consumption.
  

The degree of contamination of foods and feeds and the effect of actions to reduce contamination are assessed by monitoring, survey programmes and more specialised research programmes, where necessary.

Compliance of food and feed contaminant levels to internationally accepted maximum levels for particular uses has to be demonstrated by monitoring and survey programmes, following measurement principles and procedures that will be subjected themselves to international acceptance. Moreover, the correct application of those principles and procedures in practical situations will have to be demonstrated by an appropriate quality assurance system, involving the use of validated analytical procedures, adequate reference materials for equipment calibration and the participation to intercomparison exercises for independent capability assessment.

In contrast to the routine monitoring programmes, contamination occurring as the consequence of an accidental release of toxic metals or radionuclides into the environment, will generate pressure on the laboratories to provide a rapid survey of the situation in order to provide the data for matching the emergency response and the corrective actions to the risk represented by the event. Because the contaminant levels will then generally be different from the levels routinely measured and the response time will be shorter, rapid methods dedicated to and developed for accidental situations should be available and should be maintained operative by regular exercises and practice.

You are the Visitor since 28 October 1998