Balancing the risk of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the benefit of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids of the n-3 variety for French fish consumers in western coastal areas

A study of 401 fish-eating adults living in a coastal region of France was undertaken to establish exposure to dioxins/polychlorinated biphenyls and the intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids of the n-3 variety. Fish consumption was estimated using food frequency diaries and the dioxin/polychlorinated biphenyl data collected by the French control authorities was used to calculate dietary exposure. The results showed that for a group of adult subjects selected because of their consumption of fish, 60% achieved the nutritional recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and 79% were exposed to total dioxins below the toxicological threshold of 14 pg kg⁻¹ body weight week⁻¹. Nevertheless, only 41% of these subjects had an optimal balance between the risk and benefit of eating fish, because 19% were meeting the nutritional recommendation but exceeding the toxicological threshold, whereas 38% were exposed below the toxicological threshold but failed to reach the recommended intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Similar results were found regarding the balance between long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and polychlorinated biphenyls even if a toxicological threshold was not established for these compounds. The results show that meeting the nutritional requirements of 0.5 mg day⁻¹ of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is compatible with respect to toxicological thresholds, while an intake higher than 1.5 g day⁻¹ is likely to lead to a dietary exposure above the provisional tolerable weekly intake for dioxins.