Consumer toxicological risk assessment
For the control of pesticide residues in foodstuffs, the applicable regulation is Regulation (EU) No 396/2005 and its successive amendments.
This text defines the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for each pesticide-commodity pair expressed in mg/kg. Regulatory residue definitions may include both a single residue and a sum of associated residues and metabolites.
These residue definitions are frequently revised and their implementation requires a substantial material and human investment that our laboratory makes a point of honour to respect.
MRLs are used to determine the compliance or non-compliance of a sample.
In the case of a non-compliant sample, exceeding the MRL does not necessarily imply a toxicological risk for the consumer.
A calculation can be made to assess the acute toxicological risk to the consumer.
This assessment compares the toxicity data of the pesticide, the Acute reference Dose (ArfD) with an MRL exceedance with an estimate of the short-term consumption of the non-compliant commodity.
Below, the various parameters taken into account in the evaluation:
Arfd: Acute reference dose expressed in milligrams of active substance per kilogram of body weight. It is a toxicological data which corresponds to the maximum quantity of the detected pesticide which can be ingested by the consumer during a day without risk for his health. This value is the reference point in assessing the risk to the consumer.
The following parameters are used to estimate the amount of the pesticide in excess that would be ingested by the consumer (ITSP or IESTI):
LP: Large Portion, expressed in kg/day and corresponds to 97.5 percentile consumption for the commodity in question.
U: Unit weight of the commodity expressed in kg.
FV: Variability factor depending on the unit weight of the commodity.
PF: Processing factor or Peeling factor (determined as the ration of residues in the processed/peeled product divided by the concentration of residues in the unprocessed/unpeeled product). This data is not available for all pesticide/product pairs.
bw: Average body weight.
The estimated consumption value (PSTI/IESTI) and the toxicological reference data (ARfD) are then compared:
If PSTI<ARfD: No risk to the consumer.
If PSTI>ARfD: Consumer risk.
Thus when a proven risk for the consumer is identified, the case must be notified by the authorities and will be relayed to the RASFF website (EU Food Alert System).
Please be aware that your Phytocontrol laboratory is able to carry out this evaluation on request.
For more information, you can consult the following document:
RASFF WI 2.2: Guidelines for the calculation of consumer intake and evaluation of the risk for pesticide residues.
For any further information, do not hesitate to contact us.
