Pesticides in Foods : Part 3

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 3 of 3)

The low levels of pesticide residues found in the Total Diet Study and incidence-level monitoring samples show how processing foods or otherwise preparing them for consumption at the table can reduce residue levels. Washing at home removes much of the residues. But commercial food processing steps, such as peeling and blanching, can further reduce residues. For example, the highest finding of thiabendazole in raw apples was 2 parts per million (EPA tolerance is 10 ppm), 0.08 in apple juice, and 0.06 in applesauce.

Also, agricultural specialists from major infant food manufacturers work with their contract growers to minimize pesticide applications and to ensure that only those pesticides specified in the contract are applied. Therefore, when pesticide residues are found on infant foods, they are usually well below EPA tolerances.

Wash Before Eating

Washing fresh produce before eating is a healthful habit. You can reduce and often eliminate residues if they are present on fresh fruits and vegetables by following these simple tips:

• Wash produce with large amounts of cold or warm tap water, and scrub with a brush when appropriate; do not use soap.
• Throw away the outer leaves of leafy vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage.
• Trim fat from meat, and fat and skin from poultry and fish. Residues of some pesticides concentrate in animal fat.

Supermarkets, as a rule, don't wash produce before putting it out, but many stores mist it while it's on display. Misting keeps the produce from drying, but surface residues drain off also, in much the same way as from a light wash under the kitchen faucet.

A 1990 report in the EPA Journal by three chemists from that agency, Joel Garbus, Susan Hummel, and Stephanie Willet, summarized four studies of fresh tomatoes treated with a fungicide, which were tested at harvest, at the packing house, and at point of sale to the consumer. The studies showed that more than 99 percent of the residues were washed off at the packing house by the food processor.

A 1989 study reported by Edgar Elkins in the Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists showed the effects of peeling, blanching and processing on a number of fruits and vegetables. For example, in the case of benomyl, 83 percent of the residues found on fresh apples were removed during processing into applesauce, 98 percent of residues from oranges processed to juice were removed, and 86 percent of residues from fresh tomatoes processed to juice were removed. Another study in 1991 by Gary Eilrich, reported in an American Chemical Society Symposium, showed similar results. n

NAS Evaluation Expected

The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is expected to issue a report this summer on its evaluation of the methods the government uses to estimate the health risks to infants and children from dietary exposures to pesticide residues. At issue is whether federal pesticide risk assessments, on which Environmental Protection Agency tolerances are based, adequately protect special segments of the population, particularly infants and children.

Tolerance levels reflect both the toxicity of a chemical and anticipated dietary exposure. Risks are calculated from two types of exposure estimates:

• the potential risk from a one-time exposure
• a composite average lifetime risk, which includes a proportionately greater exposure in childhood.

FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture monitoring for pesticide residues consistently show that levels rarely exceed or approach established tolerances. Estimated dietary intakes of pesticides by children and adults in the United States are also well below Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADI) established by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, seldom exceeding 1 percent of the ADI.

In response to a request from Congress in 1988, NAS convened a 14-person committee representing academia, medicine, state governments, industry, USDA, and Canada's health agencies. EPA asked the committee to address:

• the ways in which children are more or less susceptible to the toxicity of pesticides in their diets
• diets of various age groups
• pesticide use patterns on crops likely to contain residues that cause concern
• improvements EPA could make in its toxicological testing requirements and methods of estimating risk to improve protection for infants and children.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.