36th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants

EFSA held a special session at the 36^th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (DIOXIN2016). The conference was held in Florence, Italy, from 28 August until 2 September with more than 700 participants from around the world.

The EFSA special session addressed issues related to the risk assessment of persistent organic pollutants on food and feed. The six lectures covered:

• EFSA’s past and on-going activities in the field;
• data collection on dioxins and its use in exposure assessment;
• insights on the role of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling in establishing health-based guidance values;
• the human health hazard assessment of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) performed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA);
• The impact of EFSA’s risk assessments at EU Member State level, in particular from the perspective of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland;
• an overview of the risk management of halogenated persistent pollutants at EU level.