Estimated assessment of cumulative dietary exposure to organophosphorus residues from tea infusion in China

Pei Cao,Jianghui Zhu,Dingguo Jiang,Haibin Xu,Zhaoping Liu,Dajin Yang

doi:10.1186/s12199-018-0696-1

Abstract

BackgroundChina has the world’s largest tea plantation area in the world. To sustain high yields of the tea, multiple pesticides are used on tea crops to control pests. Organophosphorus (OP) pesticides are among the most widely used types of agricultural pesticides in China. As tea is a significant potential source of exposure to pesticide residues, the public concern has increased in relation to pesticide residues found in tea in China. The aim of the study was to estimate cumulative dietary exposure to OP residues from tea infusion for Chinese tea consumers to determine whether exposure to OP residues from tea infusion is a cause of health concern for tea consumers in China.MethodsOP residue data were obtained from the China National Monitoring Program on Food Safety (2013–2014), encompassing 1687 tea samples from 12 provinces. Tea consumption data were obtained from the China National Nutrient and Health Survey (2002), comprising 506 tea consumers aged 15–82 years. The transfer rates of residues from tea leaves into tea infusions were obtained from the literature. The relative potency factor (RPF) approach was used to estimate acute cumulative exposure to 20 OP residues from tea infusion using methamidophos as the index compound. Dietary exposure was calculated in a probabilistic way.ResultsFor tea consumers, the mean and the 99.9th percentile (P99.9) of cumulative dietary exposure to OP residues from tea infusion equalled 0.08 and 1.08 μg/kg bw/d. When compared with the acute reference dose (ARfD), 10 μg/kg bw/d for methamidophos, this accounts for 0.8 and 10.8% of the ARfD.ConclusionsEven when considering OP residues from vegetables, fruits and other foods, there are no health concerns based on acute dietary exposure to OP residues from tea infusion. However, it is necessary to strengthen the management of the OP pesticides used on tea in China to reduce the risk of chronic dietary exposure to OPs from tea infusion.

Highlights

China has the world’s largest tea plantation area in the world
Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are among the most widely used types of agricultural pesticides in China, owing to their broad-spectrum insecticidal activity, high effectiveness and low cost [13].Some studies have found that a few high toxicity OPs are frequently detected on tea crops in China, approximately 70% of OPs have been banned due to their high toxicity [14,15,16,17].Some old pesticides are still used illegally on tea crops, and tea has a shorter interval between pesticide treatment and harvest compared with other crops [18]
There were 169 positive tea samples tested for 20 OPs, including highly toxic pesticides, e.g. methamidophos, parathion-methyl, parathion, monocrotophos, triazophos; moderately toxic pesticides, e.g. chlorpyrifos, omethoate, dimethoate; and low toxicity pesticides, e.g. acephate and malathion

Summary

Introduction

China has the world’s largest tea plantation area in the world. To sustain high yields of the tea, multiple pesticides are used on tea crops to control pests. As tea is a significant potential source of exposure to pesticide residues, the public concern has increased in relation to pesticide residues found in tea in China. Tea is a significant potential source of exposure to pesticide residues, among extreme tea consumers (those who consume very high amounts of tea).public concern has increased in relation to pesticide residues found in tea in China [19,20,21,22]. To address this concern, it has become necessary to monitor pesticide residues in tea and to estimate the potential intake of these pesticides

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