According to a risk assessment conducted by the European Food Safety Agency EFSA (2015), there are increased concerns on nickel present in the diet of the general population and nickel sensitive individuals in terms of chronic and acute effects, respectively. Therefore, this study aimed to address the following questions: which food products, available on the Belgian market, contribute most significantly to the exposure of the Belgian population to Nickel through different, known contamination routes and are provoking a potential risk, i.e. chronic and acute?

Therefore, different food products were purchased on the Belgian market and their nickel contents were measured, followed by statistical analysis for interpreting the data and exposure assessment. Determination of nickel in the foodstuffs was performed by a microwave-assisted acid digestion, followed by ICP-MS analysis. The Belgian food consumption survey (2014) and @Risk software were used to conduct a probabilistic exposure assessment.

The highest average nickel concentrations were observed in tea, chocolate, beans, hazelnut, lentils, figs, peanut and peanut butters with average nickel contents of 6271, 4140, 2892, 2383, 1883, 1566, 1356 and 1348 μg kg^-1, respectively. These products are also mainly responsible for exposure of the Belgian population to nickel. The average Ni concentration of 274 μg kg^-1, was observed in soy products, including soy drinks, which increases the risk of excessive Ni exposure for lactose-intolerant children. Besides, as EFSA raised a concern on elevated Ni concentrations previously observed in beer, a large number of samples, i.e. 244 in total, were collected, including commercially available beers, raw materials and semi-products used in the beer production process. Low nickel concentrations were detected in all of these samples, e.g. on average 8.36 µg kg^-1 for commercially available beers. So beer, which is largely consumed in Belgium, is not relevant to the exposure of the Belgian population to nickel.

In conclusion, food products with elevated nickel concentrations and their potential contamination routs have been identified in this study. The results are relevant to the implementation of further mitigation strategies to decrease the public health burden.