Assessment of Slovak population exposure to cadmium from food

Exposure of the Slovak Republic population to cadmium from food and drinks was studied. Calculations were done by means of 1,66,312 food, plant and animal raw materials and drinks sampled within systematic inspection and monitoring of contaminants in 1990-2003. Exposure assessment of average inhabitants to cadmium from actual and model consumption patterns were calculated and compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) value. Considering the model consumption, the exposure doses were assessed also for selected demographic groups. The assessed exposure of the population to cadmium has been persistently low with a moderately decreasing tendency especially for the past few years. The assessed real weekly exposure doses of cadmium from foodstuffs and beverages in the last 5 years while using the mean values and median values were 20-14.8% PTWI and 12.6-7.6% PTWI, respectively.