FDA Risk Assessment of Seafood Contamination after the BP Oil Spill: Rotkin-Ellman and Solomon Respond

Environmental Health Perspectives • volume 120 | number 2 | February 2012 A 55 Food Additives (JECFA), which considered but did not include naphthalene among geno toxic and carcino genic PAHs evaluated (FAO/WHO 2006). Although well intentioned, the LOC values suggested by Rotkin-Ellman et al. (2012) do not appear to take into account the natural background occurrence of PAHs in foods in many categories. Assessments from the body of scientific literature is perhaps best represented by the deliberations of JECFA (which included experts from the FDA), which found benzo(a)pyrene from dietary intake alone to range from 0.16 to 3.3 μg/person/day (Benford et al. 2010; FAO/WHO 1991, 2006). The LOC values proposed by Rotkin-Ellman et al. (2012) would unnecessarily exclude many food groups from consumers, where nutritional benefits far outweighs negligible risk from PAHs. Public health authorities are responsible for protecting consumers from contaminated commercial and recreational seafood sources, and to that end advisories may be issued to protect consumers. The federal and state inter agency risk assessment for seafood safety following the BP oil spill of 2010 was designed and agreed on by all participants to provide conservative criteria that protect the public. The alternative interpretation provided by Rotkin-Ellman et al. (2012) carries a risk of doing more harm than good. The author declares that he has no actual or potential competing financial interest.