以21世紀風險矩陣評估國人DDT花茶之潛在健康風險

A RISK21 matrix for assessing the potential health risk of DDT from flower tea in Taiwan

目標：21世紀風險矩陣（RISK21 matrix）是一個簡單、高效能、透明化且視覺化之健康風險評估方法。本研究目的為引用RISK21結合傳統風險評估方法，評估國人不同年齡族群飲用含DDT花茶或直接食用含DDT花瓣之潛在健康風險。方法：以風險評估為基礎，整合特定年齡層DDT每日總攝取量、非致癌與致癌毒性資料，以RISK21 matrix評估國人DDT暴露之肝病變與發育毒性健康關注程度，亦以傳統風險評估方法增量終生癌症風險（incremental lifetime cancer risk, ILCR）量化肝腫瘤風險。結果：不同年齡族群之RISK21 matrix評估結果顯示飲用DDT花茶所造成之肝病變與發育毒性為低度安全疑慮，然而若直接食用花瓣則有高度關注之必要性。飲用花茶及直接食用花瓣之ILCR分別為1.14×10^（-19） - 3.40×10^（-12）及2.12×10^（-10） - 3.29×10^（-3），顯示食用花瓣有高度潛在肝腫瘤風險。結論：儘管飲用含DDT之花茶似乎不太可能造成公共衛生安全疑慮，但從直接食入花瓣之保守觀點來看，DDT暴露之健康風險仍應提出警訊。RISK21 matrix是一個易於使用之工具，不僅增進風險評估之理解，亦促進科學家、業界、政府及社會大眾之間的風險溝通。

Objectives: RISK21 matrix is a straightforward, efficient, transparent, and visual approach for health risk assessment. The purpose of this study was to adopt RISK21 approach combining traditional risk assessment method to assess the potential health risks of DDT (dichlorodiphe nyltrichloroethane) when flower tea is drunk or when petals are directly consumed by various age groups. Methods: Based on the principles of risk assessment, we integrated age-specific total daily intakes of DDT with non-carcinogenic toxicity data to assess the level of health concern regarding liver lesion and developmental toxicity by RISK21 matrix. We also applied the carcinogenic toxicity data to quantify the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for liver tumor. Results: RISK21 matrix for all age groups showed that DDT in flower tea drinks posed a low health concerns of liver lesion and developmental toxicity. However, there were very significant health concerns when the DDT exposure through a direct intake of petals. The ILCRs of DDT ranged 1.14×10^(-19)-3.40×10^(-12) and 2.12×10^(-10) - 3.29×10^(-3) for drinking flower tea and directly consuming petals, respectively, indicating a high potential risk of liver tumor from consuming petals. Conclusions: Although drinking DDT-contaminated flower tea is unlikely to be a significant safety concern, the human health risks related to DDT exposure are alarming from a conservative point of view when there is direct intake of flower tea petals. RISK21 matrix is an easy-to-use tool that not only promotes an understanding of risk assessment but also helps the risk communication among scientists, industries, governments, and the public.