During a fire, chemicals such as carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. are released into the environment. It should be noted that in terms of food safety, dioxins and other substances belonging to their group pose the greatest risk. However, it should be noted that these substances do not accumulate in plant material (they are not absorbed from the soil into plants), so fruits, vegetables and drinking water are not classified as risky products.
After assessing the scale and duration of the fire that took place at the company "Ecoservice" (Gariūņu str. 71, Vilnius), air pollution data, scientific data on the possible contamination of fruits and vegetables during the fire, and data from laboratory tests of food and drinking water after previous fires in Lithuania (for example, the fire that broke out in the tire warehouse of UAB "Ekologistika" in Alytus), the risk of contamination of fruits, vegetables and drinking water is unlikely.
After the fire at UAB Ekologistika in Alytus, pollution due to heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic), dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was investigated. The analysis of dioxins in plant product samples showed that the level of dioxins reached the limit of 0,07 pg/g wet product weight and did not exceed the regulated exposure concentration (0,30 pg/g product weight). The analysis of the results of the heavy metal tests in the fruit and vegetable samples showed that the lead level was 0,006-0,07 mg/kg (allowable concentration 0,1-0,3 mg/kg depending on the species), arsenic and mercury were not found (possible lower amounts outside the method definition limits). Tire fire and other possible sources of pollution with harmful products were not found in the tested soil, i.e. the amounts of all tested chemicals in the soil did not exceed the maximum permissible limit values, and the amounts of dioxins, furans and polybrominated diphenyls (PBDEs) were below the detection limit of the laboratory method.
After evaluating the available data, it is recommended to follow the general food safety recommendations:
* Visually evaluate food products (fruits, vegetables, berries) before consumption. If the products are externally contaminated (with soot, ash, etc.), unusual/uncharacteristic changes in the products are visible - it is recommended not to use such products.
* Wash all fruits and vegetables well with running drinking water before consumption; the upper leaves, the peel can be peeled off.
* Use water for food only from properly equipped, maintained shaft wells and boreholes.
Source: State Food and Veterinary Service
