Research on procuring data for exposure assessment

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What it's about

Standardised, simple screening methods as well as modern statistical methods are needed to collect data and assess exposure. BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment develops these methods further in order to be able to give a realistic assessment of the risks with an acceptable degree of effort.

Our tasks

The risks linked to foods and consumer products are diverse and complex. In order to identify a possible threat to consumers, information is needed about the intake of pathogens and contaminants. The precondition for risk assessment is, therefore, knowledge about the occurrence, spread and intake of harmful pathogens, contaminants, products and their chemical substances. One focus of BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment research is, therefore, the development of methods to collect data within the framework of risk analysis as the basis for exposure assessment.

Standardised, simple screening methods as well as modern statistical methods are needed to collect data and assess exposure. BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment develops these methods further in order to be able to give a realistic assessment of the risks with an acceptable degree of effort.

The focus of research is the development of refined variabilityVariabilityTo glossary-related approaches to exposure estimation and the collection of high-quality data for exposure estimation in the area of food safety. Important data sources are food consumption studies, levels of agents in food and consumer products, transfer studies in farm animals on the transition of undesirable substances from feed to food of animal origin, as well as data that provide information about the handling of consumer products in daily life (consumer behaviour).

Research projects

  • Exposure assessment for chemicals and product safety

  • Exposure assessment for textiles, toys and non-textile care items

    BfR carries out research in the field of exposure through textiles, toys and non-textile care articles.

  • Model parameters for prospective intake estimates

    The BfR is involved in the safety assessment of novel foods and food ingredients and develops models to estimate exposure to the ingredients they contain.

  • Probabilistic exposure assessment

    Exposure assessment can help to determine the type, nature, frequency and intensity of contacts between the population and the contaminant that is to be assessed. There are various approaches for estimating exposure.

  • KiESEL - The Children's Nutrition Survey to Record Food Consumption

    The KiESEL study recorded the food consumption of infants, toddlers and children from the age of six months up to and including five years.

  • The COPLANT Study - Research on Plant-Based Nutrition

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