Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts
Abstract A novel approach is developed to establish safety levels for organophosphate pesticides residues present in 80 fruit, vegetable, and nut commodities. These levels, known as Pesticide Safety Levels (PSL), represent the concentration of the organophosphate pesticide residue that would be requ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Food Contamination |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40550-019-0076-7 |
| _version_ | 1797762707726794752 |
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| author | Elizabeth A. Jara Carl K. Winter |
| author_facet | Elizabeth A. Jara Carl K. Winter |
| author_sort | Elizabeth A. Jara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract A novel approach is developed to establish safety levels for organophosphate pesticides residues present in 80 fruit, vegetable, and nut commodities. These levels, known as Pesticide Safety Levels (PSL), represent the concentration of the organophosphate pesticide residue that would be required to cause daily exposure of the highest-consuming population subgroup at the 95th percentile of consumption (based upon US food consumption estimates) to reach the adjusted acute reference dose of the pesticide. A total of 4,320 PSLs were developed for 54 organophosphate pesticides on the 80 commodities. Comparisons of PSLs and tolerances and/or MRLs, when available, indicated that only a small percentage of PSLs were lower than or equal to regulatory levels (1.9% below/equal to tolerance levels and 2.3% below/equal to Codex MRLs). In the pesticide/commodity combinations where PSLs were below tolerances and/or MRLs, monitoring results indicated that the maximum residues of organophosphate pesticides on the commodities were far below both the PSL and tolerance/MRL values. In most cases, PSLs were much higher than existing tolerances and/or MRLs. PSLs were at least 100 times higher than tolerances in 50.1% of the comparisons and at least 100 times higher than MRLs 64.1% of the time. PSLs were at least ten times higher than tolerances 75.8% of the time and at least ten times higher than MRLs 82.8% of the time. PSLs serve a useful role in determining the health significance, if any, in the event that residues of organophosphate pesticides exceed existing tolerances and/or MRLs as well as in cases where residues of organophosphate pesticides are detected on commodities for which no tolerance or MRL has been established. PSLs can also be used to customize pesticide residue monitoring programs to focus more on consumer safety than on good agricultural practices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:31:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23b10f3d2bee4b5297d81b48d536cf8f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2196-2804 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T19:31:17Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Food Contamination |
| spelling | doaj.art-23b10f3d2bee4b5297d81b48d536cf8f2023-08-02T04:29:05ZengBMCInternational Journal of Food Contamination2196-28042019-08-01611810.1186/s40550-019-0076-7Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nutsElizabeth A. Jara0Carl K. Winter1Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California DavisDepartment of Food Science and Technology, University of California DavisAbstract A novel approach is developed to establish safety levels for organophosphate pesticides residues present in 80 fruit, vegetable, and nut commodities. These levels, known as Pesticide Safety Levels (PSL), represent the concentration of the organophosphate pesticide residue that would be required to cause daily exposure of the highest-consuming population subgroup at the 95th percentile of consumption (based upon US food consumption estimates) to reach the adjusted acute reference dose of the pesticide. A total of 4,320 PSLs were developed for 54 organophosphate pesticides on the 80 commodities. Comparisons of PSLs and tolerances and/or MRLs, when available, indicated that only a small percentage of PSLs were lower than or equal to regulatory levels (1.9% below/equal to tolerance levels and 2.3% below/equal to Codex MRLs). In the pesticide/commodity combinations where PSLs were below tolerances and/or MRLs, monitoring results indicated that the maximum residues of organophosphate pesticides on the commodities were far below both the PSL and tolerance/MRL values. In most cases, PSLs were much higher than existing tolerances and/or MRLs. PSLs were at least 100 times higher than tolerances in 50.1% of the comparisons and at least 100 times higher than MRLs 64.1% of the time. PSLs were at least ten times higher than tolerances 75.8% of the time and at least ten times higher than MRLs 82.8% of the time. PSLs serve a useful role in determining the health significance, if any, in the event that residues of organophosphate pesticides exceed existing tolerances and/or MRLs as well as in cases where residues of organophosphate pesticides are detected on commodities for which no tolerance or MRL has been established. PSLs can also be used to customize pesticide residue monitoring programs to focus more on consumer safety than on good agricultural practices.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40550-019-0076-7Organophosphate pesticidesResiduesTolerancesMaximum residue levelsRisk assessment |
| spellingShingle | Elizabeth A. Jara Carl K. Winter Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts International Journal of Food Contamination Organophosphate pesticides Residues Tolerances Maximum residue levels Risk assessment |
| title | Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts |
| title_full | Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts |
| title_fullStr | Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts |
| title_short | Safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and nuts |
| title_sort | safety levels for organophosphate pesticide residues on fruits vegetables and nuts |
| topic | Organophosphate pesticides Residues Tolerances Maximum residue levels Risk assessment |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40550-019-0076-7 |
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