Table 5.
Pregnant women’s estimated exposures to FD&C Blue No. 2, FD&C Red No. 40, and FD&C Yellow No. 6 synthetic color additives from recommended daily dosages of four brands of prenatal vitamin tablets.
| FD&C Blue No. 2 average exposure (mg/kg/day)a | FD&C Red No. 40 average exposure (mg/kg/day)a | FD&C Yellow No. 6 average exposure (mg/kg/day)a | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tablet/day | 1 tablet/day | 1 tablet/day | |
| Brand 1 | |||
| 1st trimester | ND | 0.0026 | 3.6E−06 |
| 2nd trimester | ND | 0.0028 | 3.7E−06 |
| 3rd trimester | ND | 0.0025 | 3.4E−06 |
| Average for all pregnant women | ND | 0.0027 | 3.6E−06 |
| Brand 2 | |||
| 1st trimester | BDL | 0.0013 | 0.0002 |
| 2nd trimester | BDL | 0.0013 | 0.0002 |
| 3rd trimester | BDL | 0.0012 | 0.0002 |
| Average for all pregnant women | BDL | 0.0013 | 0.0002 |
| Brand 3 | |||
| 1st trimester | ND | 0.0021 | 0.0003 |
| 2nd trimester | ND | 0.0022 | 0.0003 |
| 3rd trimester | ND | 0.0020 | 0.0004 |
| Average for all pregnant women | ND | 0.0022 | 0.0004 |
| Brand 4 | |||
| 1st trimester | 8.9E−06 | 0.0018 | 0.0004 |
| 2nd trimester | 9.2E−06 | 0.0019 | 0.0004 |
| 3rd trimester | 8.4E−06 | 0.0017 | 0.0004 |
| All pregnant women | 9.0E−06 | 0.0019 | 0.0004 |
FD&C Food, Drug, and Cosmetic, ND non-detect, meaning the color additive is neither listed nor found in the product, BDL below detection limit.
aExposures are calculated as mg of color additive per kg of body weight per day (mg/kg/day). Body weights are trimester-specific and overall 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.