Data on concentrations of PCE in food are scarce. In some studies from Germany
and Switzerland reported in the early 1980s, relatively high total intakes
of 87–170 μg/day were found (16). The results of market basket surveys in the
United States, reported in 1987 and 1988, indicated lower levels. From the results
of these surveys, total daily intake via food has been estimated at 0.12–65
μg/kg body weight (6). Several groups of researchers have reported elevated concentrations
of PCE in fatty food products in residences and markets, owing to
contamination from dry cleaning establishments nearby. In a supermarket near
a dry cleaning shop in Germany, concentrations were 36 μg/kg and 110 μg/kg
in cheese and margarine, respectively (8). In one instance in the United States,
a very high PCE concentration was found in margarine (up to 50 mg/kg) in a
shop next door to a dry cleaning establishment (2). Moreover, food grown on
contaminated soil can contain PCE. In Japan, the daily maximum levels of PCE
in the diet between 1990 and 1999 (n = 72~81 in each year) were 4.4 μg/kg wet
weight