Probabilistic health risk assessment for dietary exposure to 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) and 1,3-dichloropropan-2-ol (1,3-DCP) through consumption of commercial soup

In the present study, the risk for Iranian consumers due to oral exposure to free 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP through consumption of commercial soups was evaluated. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed to quantify the levels of the contaminants in 310 soup samples (10 unique batch numbers of different types of soup from 5 brands) randomly collected from markets in Iran. Statistically significant differences in 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP levels were detected among different types of soups. Based on the probabilistic model, all the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) values were below one. However, at the 50th, 80th, and 95th centiles, Hazard Index (HI) values for both contaminants were within 1.1-10.0 range and indicated moderate risk. Moreover, Margin of Exposure (MOE) values calculated at the 50th centile were below 10,000, demonstrating low health concern. However, MOEs at the 80th and 95th centiles were above 10,000, indicating a low risk for consumers highly exposed. A significant limitation of the present study is that the occurrence of esters in the analyzed samples was not investigated.