Dataset of pollutants in organic and non-organic food

Gilles-Eric Seralini; Jérôme Douzelet; Gérald Jungers

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2022.108295

Dataset of pollutants in organic and non-organic food

Data Brief. 2022 May 19:42:108295. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108295. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

Gilles-Eric Seralini¹, Jérôme Douzelet¹, Gérald Jungers¹

Affiliation

¹ Network on Risks, Quality and Sustainable Environment, University of Caen Normandy MRSH and Faculty of Sciences, Esplanade de la Paix, Caen 14032 CEDEX, France.

Abstract

Organic and non-organic equivalent corresponding type of foods were assessed for pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides and heavy metals. In total, 35 samples of sausages and cheeses were tested from three western European countries, Spain, France, and Germany. These samples were chosen because they are meat and milk products presenting some bioaccumulation capacity. Petroleum residues were demonstrated in pesticide formulants. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals. We measured in these human foods 800 pesticides, 24 PAHs, using accredited methods, as well as eleven metals and elements. Pesticides' measurements were performed either by gas or liquid chromatography, followed by mass spectrometry, according to regulatory standard methods, that were measured over the threshold of 10 μg/kg for this reason. This could be insufficient to detect all toxic contaminations. Metals were analysed by high frequency induced plasma emission spectrometry and mass spectrometry after pressurized digestion. PAHs were assessed by gas and/or high-performance liquid chromatography with reverse phase polarity and if necessary double mass spectrometry. The raw data are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. The dataset can be reused for statistical analyses by the scientific community to evidence food pollution and to be compared with other measurements.

Keywords: C, cheeses; Cheeses; Fr, France; Ge, Germany; Heavy metals; NO, Non-organic; NSm, Non-smoked; Non-organic food; O, Organic; Organic food; PAHs, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Pesticides; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; S, sausages; Sausages; Sm, Smoked; Sp, Spain.