Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide used against fleas, lice, ticks, cockroaches, mites and other insects. The estimation of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) was made on the basis of a notice in the Rapid Alert System for Foods and Feeds (RASFF) according to which increased levels of fipronil were detected in eggs and egg products in Belgium. The currently available results of the analysis of fipronil levels range from 0.0031 to 1.2 mg per kg in chicken eggs and from 0.0015 to 0.0156 mg per kg in chicken meat. The estimation is also based on the general risk assessment of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of 7 February 2006. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/de/efsajournal/pub/65r The health risk assessment of the fipronil residues measured in chicken eggs and chicken meat was made on the basis of an exceedance of the Acute Reference Dose (ARfD). The ARfD was derived from developmental toxicity studies with rats and is 0.009 mg per kg body weight (bw). It is defined as the quantity of a substance per kilogram body weight that can be ingested with one meal or within one day without any recognisable risk to the consumer. In the case of fipronil, calculations were performed with the highest measured value of the levels of fipronil in eggs (1.2 mg fipronil per kg eggs) as the worst case. On the basis of this level and the health reference values, the BfR arrives at the conclusion that under consideration of European consumption data, the ARfD for children is exceeded by chicken eggs. This does not necessarily mean that the consumption of chicken eggs poses a concrete health risk, but it indicates that, in line with the current level of available knowledge, a health risk is possible for children with the required margin of safety after consuming these contaminated chicken eggs. ; DE; PDF; efsa-focal-point@bfr.bund.de