Dietary intake and risk assessment of elements for 1- and 2-year-old children in the Netherlands

In 2017, a total diet study (TDS) was conducted in the Netherlands to determine the intake of elements by 1- and 2-year-old children. Concentrations of 47 elements were analysed and long-term dietary intake was calculated for 24 elements. The 95th percentile (P95) intake estimates were compared with a tolerable daily or weekly intake (TDI or TWI) or tolerable upper intake level (UL), or a margin of exposure (MOE) was calculated. The P95 intake of cadmium and zinc exceeded the TWI or UL, respectively, and the P95 intake of inorganic arsenic and lead resulted in low MOEs. Food subgroups contributing most to the intake were "potatoes" for cadmium, "milk and milk-based beverages" for zinc, "concentrated fruit juices" and "rice" for inorganic arsenic, and "candies" for lead. For inorganic mercury, it could not be established if the intake was (too) high. P95 intake estimates of the other elements for which a risk characterisation could be performed were below the health-based guidance values. It was noted that the P50 intake estimate of manganese was a factor of 3 higher than the adequate intake level. Due to the absence of a UL, it is not clear if this intake is of concern.

Probabilistic modelling of exposure doses and implications for health risk characterization: glycoalkaloids from potatoes

Potatoes are a source of glycoalkaloids (GAs) represented primarily by alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine (about 95%). Content of GAs in tubers is usually 10-100 mg/kg and maximum levels do not exceed 200 mg/kg. GAs can be hazardous for human health. Poisoning involve gastrointestinal ailments and neurological symptoms. A single intake of >1-3 mg/kg b.w. is considered a critical effect dose (CED). Probabilistic modelling of acute and chronic (usual) exposure to GAs was performed in the Czech Republic, Sweden and The Netherlands. National databases on individual consumption of foods, data on concentration of GAs in tubers (439 Czech and Swedish results) and processing factors were used for modelling. Results concluded that potatoes currently available at the European market may lead to acute intakes >1 mg GAs/kg b.w./day for upper tail of the intake distribution (0.01% of population) in all three countries. 50 mg GAs/kg raw unpeeled tubers ensures that at least 99.99% of the population does not exceed the CED. Estimated chronic (usual) intake in participating countries was 0.25, 0.29 and 0.56 mg/kg b.w./day (97.5% upper confidence limit). It remains unclear if the incidence of GAs poisoning is underreported or if assumptions are the worst case for extremely sensitive persons.

Dietary exposure of Brazilian consumers to dithiocarbamate pesticides—A probabilistic approach

A probabilistic estimation of the exposure of the Brazilian population to the dithiocarbamate pesticides was performed using the Monte Carlo Risk Assessment program (MCRA 3.5). Residue data, as CS2, for 3821 samples were obtained from the Brazilian national monitoring program on pesticide residues and from the monitoring program conducted in the Distrito Federal on rice, beans and nine fruits and vegetables. Food consumption data were obtained from a Brazilian household budget survey conducted between 2002 and 2003. Processing factors for washing, peeling or cooking were applied to the residues found in the crops. Daily intakes at the highest percentiles for the general population reached a maximum of 2.0 microg CS2/kg body weight per day (upper band of the 95% confidence interval at P99.99). Tomato, rice, apple and lettuce were the commodities which contributed most to the intake. Based on the registered uses and the toxicological profile of dithiocarbamates, the risk from exposure was evaluated assuming that all residues came from the use of ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate (EBDC) or that a fraction of it came from the use of propineb. For this last scenario, a cumulative risk assessment was conducted. In the first scenario, the highest intake reached up to 11.9% EBDC ADI for the general population and up to 31.1% ADI for children. When 30% of the residues were considered as coming from propineb use, the values were 15.2% and 39.7% ADI, respectively.

Probabilistic assessment of the cumulative acute exposure to organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides in the Brazilian diet

In the present study, the cumulative exposure of 25 acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibiting pesticides through the consumption of nine fruits and vegetables by the Brazilian population was assessed. Food consumption data were obtained from a household budget survey conducted in all Brazilian states from July 2002 to June 2003. Residue data from 4001 samples were obtained from the Brazilian national monitoring program on pesticide residues. Relative potency factors (RPF) were calculated with methamidophos or acephate as index compounds (IC), using BMD(10) or NOAEL for AChE inhibition, mostly in rat brain, obtained from national and international pesticide evaluations. Monocrotophos and triazophos, in addition to aldicarb, had the highest calculated RPF in any scenario. The exposure to AChE inhibiting pesticides for the general population at P99.9, represented 33.6% of the ARfD as methamidophos and 70.2% ARfD as acephate. The exposure calculated as acephate could exceed the ARfD at the upper bound of the 95% confidence interval for this percentile. Exposure for children aged up to 6 years were, on average, 2.4 times higher than the exposure for the general population. Tomato represented about 67% of the total intake of AChE inhibiting pesticides. The highest calculated equivalent residues in tomato, which drove most of the estimated intakes at the high percentiles, were related to the illegal use of monocrotophos and triazophos in this crop.

Determination of trichothecenes in duplicate diets of young children by capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection

Trichothecenes are mycotoxins produced by several fungal genera, mainly Fusarium species, that can contaminate a wide range of cereals used for human and animal consumption. They are associated with various adverse health effects in animals and humans such as feed refusal, vomiting and immunotoxic effects. A method based on capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection was developed and validated in-house for the determination of nine trichothecenes in duplicate diets of young children. The trichothecenes were extracted from the sample matrix by water/ethanol (90/10). The extracts were cleaned by means of ChemElut and Mycosep columns. The cleaned extracts were evaporated to dryness and derivatized to trimethylsilyl ethers at room temperature. The residues were dissolved in iso-octane and washed with water. The final extracts were analysed for trichothecenes by GC-MS. The response was linear in the range tested (1-10 microg kg(-1)). Recoveries for the trichothecenes were between 70 and 111%, with the exception of nivalenol, which had a low recovery (34%). The limit of quantification for all trichothecenes was below 0.4 microg kg(-1). Seventy-four food samples from young children collected by 74 respondents in a duplicate diet study were analysed for trichothecenes with the developed method. The mean levels of deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, HT-2 toxin and T-2 toxin were 5.8, 0.3, 0.3 and 0.1 microg kg(-1), respectively. Based on the individual results, dietary intake calculations were made. For deoxynivalenol, the tolerable daily intake of 1 microg kg(-1) body weight was exceeded by nine respondents. For the combined intake of T-2 and HT-2 toxin, the temporary tolerable daily intake of 0.06 microg kg(-1) body weight was exceeded by nine respondents.

Dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs: occurrence and dietary intake in The Netherlands

Data on occurrence of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins [PCDDs] and dibenzofurans [PCDFs]), dioxin-like PCBs (polychlorinated non-ortho and mono-ortho biphenyls) and non-dioxin-like PCBs (as represented by the so-called indicator-PCBs: congeners 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 180) in food products consumed in The Netherlands that were collected in measurement programs carried out during 1998 and 1999, and combined with food consumption data to assess the dietary intake of these persistent food contaminants. The estimated median life-long-averaged intake of the sum of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in the population is 1.2 pg WHO-TEQ (toxic equivalents) per kg body weight (bw) per day, while the estimated median life-long-averaged intake of indicator-PCBs is 5.6 ng per kg bw per day. The contribution of different food groups to the total intake of both dioxins + dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs is fairly uniformly distributed over the foods consumed: meat products (23% and 27%, respectively), dairy products (27% and 17%, respectively), fish (16% and 26%, respectively), eggs (4% and 5%, respectively), vegetable products (13% and 7%, respectively), and industrial oils and fats (17% and 18%, respectively). Compared with earlier intake estimations the present estimation shows a continued reduction in the intake of dioxins as well as PCBs. This reduction is related to the decrease in the concentration of these substances in the majority of foodstuffs. Nevertheless, a small part of the population still has a rather high life-long averaged intake: 8% of the population is exposed to intake levels above the tolerable weekly intake for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs of 14 pg WHO-TEQ per kg bw per week, as recently derived by the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission. For the non-dioxin-like PCBs an internationally accepted maximum intake level is still lacking. However, to provide risk managers with a health-based guideline to prevent health effects of exposure to non-dioxin-like PCBs, the (international) derivation of a tolerable daily intake is recommended. Monitoring the dietary intake of PCBs is just as important as monitoring the intake of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, and attempts to decrease the exposure to both compound classes need continuous attention.

Validation of a probabilistic model of dietary exposure to selected pesticides in Dutch infants

A probabilistic model for dietary exposure to pesticides was validated. For this, we evaluated the agreement of dietary exposure to six pesticides as estimated with the model with exposures measured in duplicate diet samples (='real intake') and those calculated with the point estimate. To calculate the exposure with the model and point estimate, consumption data of the duplicate diet survey and pesticide residue measurements from Dutch monitoring programmes in 2000 and 2001 were used. The model was considered validated when the outcome was both higher than the real intake and lower than the point estimate. Results showed that exposures estimated with the model were closer to the real intake than those of the point estimate, and that the model outcome was lower than the point estimate. Furthermore, it was shown that the probabilistic approach can address the exposure to a pesticide via the consumption of different food products, while the point estimate only estimates the exposure through the consumption of one product. The model validated is a valuable asset when estimating the dietary exposure to pesticides in both the authorization of new pesticides and the evaluation of exposures using monitoring data.

Development of databases for use in validation studies of probabilistic models of dietary exposure to food chemicals and nutrients

The data currently available in the European Union in terms of food consumption and of food chemical and nutrient concentration data present many limitations when used for estimating intake. The most refined techniques currently available were used within the European Union FP5 Monte Carlo project to estimate, as accurately as possible, the intake of food additives, pesticide residues and nutrients. Databases of 'true' intakes of food additives (based on brand level food consumption records and additive concentration data), pesticide residues (based on duplicate diet studies) and nutrients (based on biomarker studies) have thus been generated. These kind of estimates are rarely repeatable because the databases generated and used to calculate them require an extraordinary expenditure of time and resources. The databases created served the purpose of estimating as accurately as possible 'true' chemical intakes for assessing the validity of additive, nutrient and pesticide probabilistic models.

Validation of the doubly labeled water method in Japanese Quail Coturnix c. japonica chicks: is there an effect of growth rate?

The Doubly Labeled Water (DLW) method was validated against respiration gas analysis in growing Japanese Quail chicks (between 1 week and 3 weeks of age) as well as in birds after having achieved sexual maturity (7 weeks of age). A comparison was made between a strain selected for high growth rates (P-strain, n = 18), and a non-selected strain (C-strain, n = 18). Relative growth rates of individual chicks during the measurement ranged from -13.8% day(-1) to 23.1% day(-1). When employing a single-pool model (eq. 34, Lifson and McClintock 1966), it was found that the relative error of the DLW method was sensitive to assumptions concerning fractional evaporative water loss. The best fit was obtained after taking a fractional evaporative water loss value of 0.33. When applying this value for all chicks, it was found that neither strain, relative growth rate of the chick during measurement, nor age significantly contributed to the explained variance. When employing two-pool models, it was found that the DLW method significantly underestimated the true rates of CO2 production at all assumed levels of fractional evaporative water loss. Based on an evaluation of DLW validation studies in growing shorebirds, terns, and quail we recommend Speakman's Eq. 7.17 (Speakman 1997) for general use in young birds.