Statement of EFSA on the possible risks for public and animal health from the contamination of the feed and food chain due to possible ash-fall following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.

Following a request from the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a scientific advice on the possible short-term risks for food and feed safety including drinking water, in the wake of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland on 14 April 2010. Due to a lack of data on the composition of this ash-fall from the volcano in the European Union (EU), EFSA focused on fluoride, a substance identified in most publications on past volcanic eruptions as the main component that could pose a short-term risk to food and feed safety. Dietary exposure to fluoride in volcanic ash to humans and fish is usually through contaminated drinking water and for animals, such as cattle and sheep, through eating ash deposited on grass and soil. In this assessment several uncertainties were identified such as the dispersal of ash in the air and how much ash has fallen in EU. Based on the available data, the potential risk posed by fluoride in volcanic ash through contamination of drinking water, fruit, vegetables, fish, milk, meat and feed in the EU is negligible. Therefore, the risk for human and animal health through consumption of food and feed is not to be of concern in the EU. As further EU monitoring data becomes available for volcanic ash deposition levels and ash composition, risks associated with the components of the volcanic ash-fall should be re-evaluated, if the data indicates that toxicological thresholds have been exceeded.

© European Food Safety Authority, 2010

On 20 April 2010 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked by the European Commission to provide urgent advice on the risks to public and animal health in the European Union (EU) posed by possible contamination of the feed and food chain due to ash-fall following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.

EFSA consulted a wide range of sources of information. Due to the limited amount of time to deliver this statement, the lack of detailed compositional data of the ash-fall as distributed over the EU, and the fact that most publications related to volcanic eruptions identified fluoride as the most critical compound related to health effects in both humans and animals, EFSA focuses on fluoride in its initial assessment.

Fluoride is not essential for human growth and development but is beneficial in preventing dental caries. Excessive intake of fluoride can lead to dental fluorosis and in the long term reduce bone strength and increase risks of fracture and skeletal fluorosis. Upper levels for fluoride intake have been set at 0.10 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) per day for children and 0.12 mg/kg b.w. per day for adults. For terrestrial animals, the recommended maximum tolerable levels for fluoride in feed based on clinical signs of fluoride toxicosis are 40 mg/kg feed for cattle and horses and 60 mg/kg feed for sheep.

Critical dietary exposure pathways for fluoride from volcanic eruptions for humans is often via contaminated water, while for animals it is often via ashes deposited on pasture leaves and consumption of soil along with pasture. Potential exposure to increased levels of fluoride will depend on the dispersion of the ash in the air volume, ash-fall amounts and geographical areas potentially affected, transport of ash constituents in soil and water and the resulting food, feed and water contamination levels. At this stage these quantities are basically unknown making precise assessment of the food and feed safety impact difficult.

Acute fluoride intoxication may have severe effects on both humans and animals however such events, related to oral ingestion of volcanic ash, are very rare.

Based on the available information the potential risk posed by this volcanic ash-fall through contamination of drinking water, vegetables, fruit, fish, milk, meat and feed is regarded as negligible in the EU which is outside the immediate proximity of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Consequently, the risk for human and animal health due to this ash-fall is considered not to be of concern.

As further EU monitoring data becomes available for volcanic ash deposition levels and ash composition, risks associated with the components of the volcanic ash-fall should be re-evaluated, if the data indicates that toxicological thresholds have been exceeded.

Volcanic ash, food and feed chain, risks for human and animal health, fluoride