Risk Assessment of Substances that are both Genotoxic and Carcinogenic

Report of an International Conference organised by EFSA and WHO with support of ILSI Europe

2006

S. Barlow, A.G. Renwick, J. Kleiner et al.

EFSA, WHO and the ILSI Europe Risk Assessment of Genotoxic Carcinogens in Food Task Force have organised an international conference on 16-18 November 2005 entitled “Risk Assessment of Compounds that are both Genotoxic and Carcinogenic: New Approaches“ to discuss how regulatory and advisory bodies evaluate the potential risks of the presence in food of substances that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic (“genotoxic carcinogens”). The objectives of the conference were to discuss the possible approaches for risk assessment of such substances, how the approaches may be interpreted and whether they meet the needs of risk managers.

The conference concluded that a pragmatic approach to overcome the shortcomings of the currently used ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle is to use the concept of a “Margin of Exposure” (MOE). This approach allows the risk posed by different genotoxic carcinogens to be compared by taking into account their potency and the exposure of the population and thus could help risk managers to set priorities. The working groups identified the advantages and limitations of the concept and drew conclusions on its interpretation and the way forward.

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The related paper of the ILSI Europe Expert Group on Risk Assessment of Genotoxic Carcinogens in Food which was discussed in the conference was published in the same issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology. To download this article, click here.