Analysis on the internal exposure levels of five food additives in primary and secondary school students in Beijing City

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the internal exposure levels of urinary five food additives among primary and secondary school students in Beijing.MethodsIn September 2016， 900 urine samples were collected from children and adolescents in primary and secondary schools in two districts of Beijing. The concentrations of five food additives were determined by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectroscopy， including benzoic acid， acesulfame， cyclamate， saccharin， and 4-hexylresorcinol. The estimated daily intake （EDI） values were calculated to assess the health risks according to age groups.ResultsCyclamate and saccharin were detected in all urine samples and the detection frequency of acesulfame was 96.3%. The median concentration （4 788.5 ng/mL） of cyclamate was significantly higher than that of the other four food additives （84.1 ng/mL for saccharin， 92.6 ng/mL for acesulfame， 235.9 ng/mL for benzoic acid， and 7.6 ng/mL for 4-hexylresorcinol）. Urinary concentration of benzoic acid was higher in students aged from 7 to 12 than in the students aged from 13 to 17 （P<0.001）. The urinary concentrations of acesulfame， saccharin and 4-hexylresorcinol in students aged from 13 to 17 were significantly higher than those in students aged from 7 to 12 （P<0.001）. Girls had a significantly higher urinary saccharin concentration than boys in the 13-17 age group （P<0.001）. The median estimated daily intake （EDI） of the five food additives were 3.48 μg/kg·BW/d for benzoic acid， 1.36 μg/kg·BW/d for acesulfame， 69.01 μg/kg·BW/d for cyclamate， 1.22 μg/kg·BW/d for saccharin， and 0.11 μg/kg·BW/d for 4-hexylresorcinol， respectively.ConclusionPrimary and secondary school students in Beijing were widely exposed to five food additives. Some children were expsed to cyclamate at levels higher than the acceptable daily intake （ADI）， posing health risk. The exposure levels of the other four additives were far below the ADI and were generally at safe levels.

Keywords

• food additives
• primary and secondary school students
• exposure assessment
• biomonitoring