Evaluation of FAO/WHO pesticide standards in relation to Polish and Honduran diets.
The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission publishes a Guide to Codex Maximum Limits for Pesticide Residues (1978) which gives both acceptable daily intake (ADI) values and maximum residue limit (MRL) values for many pesticides in raw agricultural commodities (rac's) from crops on which their use is approved. ADI values are determined from animal toxicology data which given a no-observable-effect level (NOEL) and use of a safety factor. Specific MRL values are calculated from the ADI and a food factor (F), which is the decimal fraction of that rac in the assumed typical diet. One of the difficulties with this procedure is that dietary patterns differ substantially between countries. Whatever dietary pattern is assumed in calculation of the MRLs may be inappropriate for that country. Theoretical maximum residue intakes (TMRIs) were calculated from the Codex ADIs and MRLs using F values calculated from the national dietary patterns published separately in Poland and Honduras. The equation is TMRI = sigma MRLi X Fi X D, where D is the daily individual diet weight of rac's in kilograms for the particular country. The TMRI should be lower than the maximum permitted intake (MPI) calculated as MPI = ADI X 60, where the 60 is an arbitrary human body weight in kilograms. The TMRI exceeded the MPI for 16 of 33 pesticides used in Poland and for 10 of 20 used in Honduras. At the extreme, the Polish TMRI/MPI ratio for aldrin--dieldrin is 19.5 and 18.1 for fenithion; nine pesticides had ratios of 4.0 or higher.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005502:Food / Q000592:standards*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006721:Honduras; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk / Q000032:analysis; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis*; D011044:Poland; D014944:World Health Organization
D010573:Pesticide Residues