The California Air Resources Board staff report on ETO (CARB, 1987) contains cited estimates of ETO intake through foods. These include the National Toxicology
Program (NTP, 1985a) having cited a US FDA communication that the ‘‘. . .potential daily intake [of ETO] per person in the United States is estimated to be 10 micrograms’’ (1.6104 mg/kg/day) (Modderman, 1986; cited in CARB, 1987). This estimate apparently included dietary intakes from all other sources, such as
packaging materials (ethylene oxide polymers) and food additives (polysorbate emulsifiers). The proportion of this intake coming from spices was not given. The
worst-case exposure estimate given was as high as 19 mg per person, which is about 1000-fold below the daily dose causing 16% added incidence of tumours in rats
from the Dunkelberg (1982) study.