Table 1 Exposure-response functions used in the assessment
Exposure agent | Response | Esposure-response unit | Exposure-response function mean (95% confidence interval) | References and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
TEQ (intake through placenta and mother’s milk) | male infertility due to sperm concentration decrease | pg /g in boy’s body fat | linear; slope 0.00006 (− 0.000019, 0.00014) | Based on EFSA TWI assessment [6]. Mother’s exposure must be converted to child’s exposure (measured as pg /g fat) [20] |
TEQ (intake through placenta and mother’s milk) | developmental tooth defects | log (pg /g) in child’s body fat | linear; slope 0.0014 (0.00029, 0.0025) | epidemiological study in Finland [21] |
TEQ | cancer morbidity | pg/kg/day | linear; slope 0.00051 (0.000026, 0.00097) | U.S.EPA dioxin risk assessment [22]. |
TEQ | tolerable weekly intake 2001 | pg/kg/week | acceptable range below 14 | EC Scientific Committee on Food recommendation [23] |
TEQ | tolerable weekly intake 2018 | pg/kg/week | acceptable range below 2 | EFSA recommendation [6] |
Omega-3 fatty acids | coronary heart disease mortality | mg/day | ED50: −0.17 (− 0.25, − 0.091) | Cochrane review [24] |
Vitamin D | vitamin D recommendation | μg/day | acceptable range 10–100 | a step function based on the daily intake recommendations for adults in Finland [25] |
ALA | coronary heart disase mortality | mg/day | RR 0.95 (0.72–1.26) | after 1000 mg/d of alpha-linolenic acid intake; Cochrane review [24] |
Omega-3 fatty acids | breast cancer | mg/d | RR 0.95 (95% CI 0.90, 1.00) | after 0.1 g/d of marine omega-3; a meta-analysis [26] |
Fish | all-cause mortality | g /d | RR 0.88, (95%CI 0.83, 0.93) | after 60 g/d of fish; a meta-analysis [27] |
Fish | depression | g/d | RR 0.83 (95% CI 0.74, 0.93) | after 35 g/d of fish; a meta-analysis [28] |
Methylmercury | loss in child’s IQ points | mg/kg/day | linear; slope 6.6 (− 0.27, 14) | a synthesis of EFSA TWI estimate [29] and a previous risk assessment [30]. |
DHA | loss in child’s IQ points | mg/day | linear; slope − 0.0013 (− 0.0018, − 0.00081) | a previous risk assessment [31]. |