Mineral oil can enter the food via different routes. In order to obtain more insights in the extent of the mineral oil food contamination problem in Belgium, an extensive market survey was conducted including a wide variety of matrices. As saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) have a different toxicological profile, the two fractions were quantified separately using an online combination of liquid chromatography and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (online LC-GC-FID). The detected MOSH and MOAH concentrations were then compared to the action thresholds set by the Scientific Committee (SciCom) of the Belgian Food Safety Agency (FASFC) in 2017. Only one sample exceeded the threshold for MOSH, while the threshold for MOAH was exceeded in 23 samples. For the samples exceeding the action threshold, further investigation is needed to identify the contamination source.
Next, the dietary exposure of the Belgian population to mineral oil was assessed by combining the analytical results with consumption data of the Belgian Food Consumption Survey. Overall, the exposure to MOSH and MOAH was much lower compared to the results previously reported. Afterwards, the possible risks for the Belgian population were assessed by combining the outcome of the exposure assessment with hazard-related information. Based on the margin of exposure (MOE) approach, there is no health concern related to MOSH exposure for the Belgian population. For MOAH, which may be potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic, no adequate dose-response carcinogenicity data are available and consequently, no MOE-based risk assessment could be performed. Two worst‐case scenarios were applied to obtain some preliminary insights in the possible health risks associated with MOAH exposure. Based on these scenarios, adverse human health effects could not be excluded highlighting the need for more data to perform a more adequate risk assessment. In order to fill some of the existing gaps in the toxicological knowledge on MOAH, data on their endocrine activity and genotoxic potential were collected. Several interesting results were obtained, including further evidence that highly alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (which are important constituents of the MOAH fraction) are not metabolized into DNA‐reactive compounds due to steric hindrance. Furthermore, preliminary results suggest the possible use of bioassays based on activation of the Aryl receptor as a fast screening procedure to detect the presence of MOAH, but more research is needed to further investigate this hypothesis.
