Table 1.
Children’s estimated exposures to FD&C Red No. 40 and FD&C Blue No. 1 synthetic color additives from recommended daily dosages of five brands of pain reliever/fever reducer syrups.
| FD&C Red No. 40 average exposure estimate (mg/kg/day)a | FD&C Blue No. 1 average exposure estimate (mg/kg/day)a | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dose/day | 4 doses/day | 1 dose/day | 4 doses/day | |
| Brand 1, Berry | ||||
| 2–3 years | 0.004 | 0.017 | ND | ND |
| 4–5 years | 0.005 | 0.019 | ND | ND |
| 6–8 years | 0.004 | 0.015 | ND | ND |
| 9–10 years | 0.005 | 0.018 | ND | ND |
| Brand 2, Grape | ||||
| 2–3 years | 0.029 | 0.116 | 0.005 | 0.021 |
| 4–5 years | 0.032 | 0.129 | 0.006 | 0.023 |
| 6–8 years | 0.025 | 0.101 | 0.005 | 0.018 |
| 9–10 years | 0.031 | 0.126 | 0.006 | 0.023 |
| 1 dose/day | 5 doses/day | 1 dose/day | 5 doses/day | |
| Brand 3, Bubblegum | ||||
| 2–3 years | 0.009 | 0.044 | ND | ND |
| 4–5 years | 0.010 | 0.049 | ND | ND |
| 6–8 years | 0.008 | 0.039 | ND | ND |
| 9–10 years | 0.010 | 0.048 | ND | ND |
| Brand 4, Grape | ||||
| 2–3 years | ND | ND | 0.0001 | 0.0007 |
| 4–5 years | ND | ND | 0.0002 | 0.0008 |
| 6–8 years | ND | ND | 0.0001 | 0.0006 |
| 9–10 years | ND | ND | 0.0002 | 0.0008 |
| Brand 5, Bubblegum | ||||
| 2–3 years | 0.012 | 0.062 | ND | ND |
| 4–5 years | 0.014 | 0.069 | ND | ND |
| 6–8 years | 0.011 | 0.054 | ND | ND |
| 9–10 years | 0.014 | 0.068 | ND | ND |
FD&C Food, Drug, and Cosmetic, ND non-detect, meaning the color additive is neither listed nor found in the product.
aExposures are calculated as mg of color additive per kg of body weight per day (mg/kg/day). Body weights are age-specific median US Environmental Protection Agency reference body weights. Average exposure estimates are based on the average color additive concentration across three different lot numbers of the product.