In everyday life, people are exposed to many chemicals at the same time. These exposures come from water, food and the surrounding environment. While chemical risk is typically assessed one substance at a time, new results from the PANORAMIX project show that this approach does not capture the full picture.
Using a combination of chemical profiling and effect-based bioassays, the researchers assessed real-life mixtures across environmental, food and human samples.
The results suggest that combined exposures can lead to measurable biological effects that are not explained by known chemicals alone, indicating that current assessments may underestimate the overall risk.
“Most of the mixture effect we measure in real-life samples cannot be traced back to the chemicals we currently monitor. Relying only on targeted chemical monitoring systematically underestimates the actual risk,” says Professor Anne Marie Vinggaard, DTU National Food Institute. She continues: “Combining effect-based bioassays with chemical profiling is the way forward.”
Widespread exposure but few key drivers of risk
A large number of chemicals - including pharmaceuticals, personal care products and industrial compounds - were identified both in environmental samples, foods and in humans, including in breast milk and umbilical cord blood. This confirms a continuous exposure pathway from environment to people, also during early stages of life.
The study also shows that environmental chemicals in mixtures act according to the principle of concentration addition, meaning that even low levels can combine into measurable biological effects.
A limited number of known substances contribute substantially to the overall risk, including PFAS, bisphenol A and legacy pollutants such as dioxins and PCBs. Although many of these are already restricted, they remain present in the environment and continue to contribute to human exposure.
Epidemiological analyses further indicate that prenatal exposure to PFAS is associated with lower birth weight, while higher exposure to phthalates may be associated with higher ADHD scores in children, underlining the relevance for public health.
The results are directly relevant to EU chemical legislation and support the inclusion of mixture effects and combined methodological approaches in future risk assessment.
