GLYCIDYL ESTERS

Comments:

Experimental evidence indicates that glycidyl esters are substantially hydrolysed to glycidol in the gastrointestinal tract and elicit toxicity as glycidol. The Committee therefore based its evaluation on the conservative assumption of complete hydrolysis of glycidyl esters to glycidol. The Committee concluded that glycidol is a genotoxic compound and considered its carcinogenicity as the most sensitive end-point on which to base a point of departure. The lowest BMDL10 was 2.4 mg/kg bw per day for mesotheliomas in the tunica vaginalis/peritoneum in male rats observed in a carcinogenicity study. As it is not appropriate to establish a health-based guidance value for substances that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic, the margin of exposure approach is chosen. National estimates of dietary exposure were used for determining the margins of exposure. The Committee considered that the lower ends of the ranges of the margins of exposure for infants, children and adults were low for a compound that is genotoxic and carcinogenic and that they may indicate a human health concern.

Tolerable Intake:

NOT ESTABLISHED, genotoxic carcinogen

Meeting:

83

Report: 

Tox Monograph: