Chapter 44 - WHO/FAO Guidelines for Cholinesterase-Inhibiting Pesticide Residues in Food

Abstract

This chapter highlights guidelines and recommendations issued by various expert panels of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with particular reference to guidelines issued for organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CM) pesticide residues in food. The conduct of toxicity studies (good laboratory practices) and agricultural practices (good agricultural practices [GAP]) are important considerations for consistent procedures and documentation of studies so that all aspects can be recorded and verified. A joint panel of WHO/FAO is responsible for reviewing toxicological and residue data, and estimating an acceptable daily intakes (ADI) and acute reference dose (RfD) for humans and maximum residue limits (MRL) for residues in foods. The overall objective of toxicological evaluation is to determine a no-observable-adverse-effect levels, based on consideration of the total toxicology database. The use of GAP helps determine MRL values for pesticide residues in food. Integration of the results from all studies permits an appraisal of toxicity of the compound. The establishment of an acute RfD forms the basis of short-term intake and short-term risk assessment. Innumerable factors, such as crop pattern, food habits, processing conditions, species variations, and multiple uses of pesticides and toxic metabolites, complicate the determination; however, human data on a pesticide, whether from volunteer studies, or from other investigations of human exposures in the workplace or environment, can be extremely valuable in placing the animal data in context, and, when available, should always be evaluated even when they are not used to derive ADIs.