Modelling of Health Risk Associated with the Intake of Pesticides from Romanian Fruits and Vegetables

Mariana Minuț,Maria Gavrilescu,Petronela Cozma,Raluca-Maria Hlihor,Mihaela Roșca

doi:10.3390/su122310035

Abstract

This study is focused on the assessment of risks caused by pesticide residues to Romanian and other European populations, by modelling the acute and chronic risks considering short- and long-term exposures to pesticide residues in specific fruits and vegetables from different Romanian regions. Data were obtained from the Romanian 2016 official monitoring programme. For assessing the dietary risk, we used the Pesticide Residue Intake model—PRIMo. According to the official data, it was found that 50.44% of fruit samples and 28.25% of vegetable samples were contaminated with pesticides. Our study focused on acute risks and chronic risks (in a maximalist worst-case scenario) posed by pesticide residues in strawberries, apples, lettuce and potatoes, given both their high degree of consumption and contamination with pesticides. The short-term exposure assessment of children’s health due to consumption of apples, lettuce and potatoes contaminated with dimethoate, chlorothalonil and carbendazim, revealed exposure levels higher than the acute reference dose (ARfD, as 100%), raising acute risks. On the other hand, the long-term exposure assessment showed that the highest percentage from the acceptable daily intake (ADI, as 100%) was obtained for German children (DE child) (273.9%), followed by Netherlands children (NL child) (143.7%) diets, based on consumption of apples with dimethoate residues. Therefore, serious measures are needed for banning pesticides such as dimethoate, chlorothalonil and carbendazim from all countries in the EU. This would reduce the health risks generated by the consumption of contaminated fruits and vegetables.

Highlights

The rapid development of chemical and agrochemical industry has led to the discharge of large amounts of chemical compounds in the environment
The data related to residues of pesticides in fruits and vegetables were obtained from the Report on the National Plan for Pesticide Residues Monitoring in Fruit, Vegetables and Cereals elaborated by the National Phytosanitary Authority, Romania, according to the official annual surveillance [24]
Our study showed that, according to the 2016 official surveillance programme in Romania, 50.44% of fruits collected from different Romanian regions contained more than one pesticide residue

Summary

Introduction

The rapid development of chemical and agrochemical industry has led to the discharge of large amounts of chemical compounds in the environment. The total amount of pesticides (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides) has been estimated at 3.3 × 106 t/year, China being the largest consumer of pesticides with an amount of 1.8 × 106 t/year, while at the European level, approximately 0.42 × 106 t/year of pesticides have been used [5,6]. It was estimated that the production of fruits, vegetables and cereals will drop by 78%, 54% and 32%, respectively, if proper amounts of pesticides are not applied for crop protection [8]. People can be exposed to pesticides by different pathways, including inhalation, dermal contact or food consumption. Since large amounts of fruits and vegetables from human diets are consumed either raw or semi-processed, there is a possibility to contain higher levels of pesticides residues than other food commodities [9,10,11]. The consumption of at least five portions of fruits and vegetables per day is strongly encouraged [12]

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Conclusion