Probabilistic cumulative dietary risk assessment of pesticide residues in foods for the German population based on food monitoring data from 2009 to 2014

Assessment of health risk and burden of disease associated with dietary exposure to pesticide residues through foodstuffs in Iran

The health risk and burden of disease associated with dietary exposure to pesticide residues in foodstuffs in Iran were assessed. The pesticide residue levels in foodstuffs in the country were determined through systematic review and meta-analysis. The non-carcinogenic risk, carcinogenic risk, and attributable burden of disease were estimated in terms of hazard quotient (HQ), incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR), and disability-adjusted life year (DALY), respectively. The meta-analysis showed that 58% of pesticide-food pairs lacked Codex maximum residue levels (MRLs), 34% had pesticide levels below these limits, and 8% exceeded them. Based on the average HQs, two foodstuffs (onion and tangerine) and two pesticides (haloxyfop-R-methyl and cyhalothrin) exhibited unacceptable non-cancer risk (>1.0). The average ILCR value of lindane was assessed to be at the unacceptable level (1.4 × 10-4). The total annual disease burden values attributable to pesticide residues in foodstuffs were assessed to be 242 for death cases, 0.29 for death rate (per 100,000 people), 13,792 for DALYs, and 16.1 for DALY rate. The three food items with the highest DALY rates from pesticide residues were cucumber (5.9), fish (3.9), and date (2.1). The health risk and disease burden of pesticide residues in foodstuffs were considered to be relatively high.

Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Combined Exposure to Deoxynivalenol and Emerging Alternaria Toxins in Cereal-Based Food Products for Infants and Young Children in China

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and emerging Alternaria toxins often co-occur in cereal-based products, but the current risk assessment is commonly conducted for only one type of mycotoxin at a time. Compared to adults, infants and young children are more susceptible to mycotoxins through food consumption, especially with cereal-based food products which are the main source of exposure. This study aimed to perform a probabilistic risk assessment of combined exposure to DON and three major Alternaria toxins, namely including alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), alternariol (AOH), and tenuazonic acid (TeA) through consumption of cereal-based foods for Chinese infants and young children. A total of 872 cereal-based food products were randomly collected and tested for the occurrence of DON and three major Alternaria toxins. The results on mycotoxin occurrence showed the DON, TeA, AOH, and AME was detected in 56.4%, 47.5%, 7.5%, and 5.7% of the samples, respectively. Co-contamination of various mycotoxins was observed in 39.9% of the analyzed samples. A preliminary cumulative risk assessment using the models of hazard index (HI) and combined margin of exposure (MoET) was performed on DON and Alternaria toxins that were present in cereal-based food products for infants and young children in China for the first time. The results showed that only 0.2% and 1.5%, respectively, of individuals exceeded the corresponding reference value for DON and TeA, indicating a low health risk. However, in the case of AME and AOH, the proportion of individuals exceeding the reference value was 24.1% and 33.5%, respectively, indicating the potential health risks. In the cumulative risk assessment of AME and AOH, both HI and MoET values indicated a more serious risk than that related to individual exposure. Further research is necessary to reduce the uncertainties that are associated with the toxicities of the Alternaria toxins and cumulative risk assessment methods.

Identification of a pesticide exposure based market basket suitable for cumulative dietary risk assessments and food monitoring programmes

Consideration of cumulative dietary risks is a requirement in the European legislation for setting maximum residue levels for pesticides. Current cumulative exposure assessment methodologies strongly rely on representative occurrence data from food monitoring programmes. This study provides a sensitivity analysis, utilising (i) European consumption data expressed as raw agricultural commodity (RAC) equivalents from 23 different countries as published by the European Food Safety Authority and (ii) all maximum residue levels established for pesticides under European Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. Based on two different degrees of conservatism, market baskets consisting of 16 or 41 RACs, respectively, were identified, covering the majority of the total chronic and acute daily exposure. The coverage of the exposure by these market baskets was tested by comparison of cumulative probabilistic exposure assessments for the German population using all food commodities and those using the reduced sets. It was demonstrated that ≥85% of the total chronic exposure is already covered by 16 RACs, while 41 RACs are required to reach a similarly satisfying coverage of the total acute exposure. Results from this study support resource efficient modelling of complex cumulative assessment scenarios and may help to improve the design of food monitoring programmes with respect to a more efficient assessment of potential consumer risks.