Evaluation of a biomarker-based approach for exposure assessment of furan in food

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Furan occurs in a variety of food items that undergo heat treatment. Due to the high volatility of furan and limited understanding of the fate of furan during home cooking, assessment of human exposure based on food consumption data and furan content in food is unreliable. Considering the low margin between current exposure estimates and furan doses that cause adverse health effects in laboratory animals, there is an urgent need for improved exposure assessment as a basis for risk assessment.Taking into account the contribution of possible endogenous formation of furan, the overall aim of the project is to test the validity of a biomarker-based approach to assess exposure to furan via food. Administration of isotopically labelled [3,4-13C]-Furan to rats across a wide dose range that includes doses relevant to human exposure will allow us to precisely establish the correlation between external dose and concentration of furan metabolites in urine over time and to discriminate against endogenous formation and furan intake via feed. These experiments will provide critical information as to which metabolites (isolated or in combination) may be suitable to assess exposure to furan under realistic exposure scenarios. As proof-of-concept, potential biomarkers of furan exposure will be quantitatively analysed in urine of human volunteers following consumption of food with low vs. high furan content to estimate exposure.