Toxicity and carcinogenicity of furan in human diet

• Published in: Archives of toxicology Vol. 84; no. 7; pp. 563 - 578
• Main Authors: Bakhiya, Nadiya, Appel, Klaus E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.07.2010; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Alkenes; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Carcinogens; Carcinogens - toxicity; Diet; Environmental Health; Female; Furans; Genotoxicity and Carcinogenicity; Humans; Infant; Infant Food - toxicity; Medical sciences; Mice; Neoplasms - chemically induced; Neoplasms - pathology; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Thermal energy; Toxicity; Toxicology; Furan; Carcinogenicity; Mechanism of action; Risk assessment; Dietary exposure; Human; Evaluation; Nutrition; Toxicity; Exposure; Tumorigenicity; Feeding; Diet; Risk factor; Mechanism of auction
• ISSN: 0340-5761; 1432-0738
• DOI: 10.1007/s00204-010-0531-y

Furan is formed during commercial or domestic thermal treatment of food. The initial surveys of furan concentrations in heat-treated foods, published by European and US authorities, revealed the presence of relatively high furan levels in coffee, sauces, and soups. Importantly, furan is consistently found in commercial ready-to-eat baby foods. Furan induces hepatocellular tumors in rats and mice and bile duct tumors in rats with a high incidence. Epidemiological studies are not available. It is assumed that cis-2-butene-1,4-dial, the reactive metabolite of furan, is the causative agent leading to toxicity and carcinogenicity. Based on this data, furan is classified as a possible human carcinogen. The initial exposure estimates revealed a relatively small margin (~2,000) between human exposure and those furan doses, which induce liver tumors in experimental animals. As this may give rise for concern, in this review, the currently available toxicological and mechanistic data of furan are summarized and discussed with regard to its applicability in assessing the risk of furan in human diet.