Dietary exposure to pesticide residues and associated health risks in infants and young children – Results of the French infant total diet study

A total diet study (TDS) was undertaken to estimate the chronic dietary exposure to pesticide residues and health risks for the French infants and young children below 3 years old. As a whole, 516 pesticides and metabolites were analysed in 309 food composite samples including 219 manufactured baby foods and 90 common foods, which cover 97% of infants and young children's diet. These composite samples were prepared using 5,484 food products purchased during all seasons from 2011 to 2012 and processed as consumed. Pesticide residues were detected in 67% of the samples and quantified in 27% of the baby food samples and in 60% of the common foods. Seventy-eight different pesticides were detected and 37 of these quantified at levels ranging from 0.02 to 594 µg/kg. The most frequently detected pesticides (greater than 5% samples) were (1) the fungicides 2-phenylphenol, azoxystrobin, boscalid, captan and its metabolite tetrahydrophthalimide, carbendazim, cyprodinil, difenoconazole, dodine, imazalil, metalaxyl, tebuconazole, thiabendazole, (2) the insecticides acetamiprid, pirimiphos-methyl and thiacloprid, (3) the herbicide metribuzin and (4) the synergist piperonyl butoxide. Dietary intakes were estimated for each of the 705 individuals studied and for 431 pesticides incl. 281 with a toxicological reference value (TRV). In the lower-bound scenario, which tends to underestimate the exposure, the TRV were never exceeded. In the upper-bound scenario that overestimates exposure, the estimated intakes exceeded the TRV for dieldrin and lindane (two persistent organic pollutants) and propylene thiourea, a metabolite of propineb. For these three substances, more sensitive analyses are needed to refine the assessment. For 17 other detected and/or prioritised pesticides, the risk could not be characterised due to the lack of a valid TRV, of certain food analyses or the absence of analytical standards for their metabolites. Keywords: Food safety, Infants and young children, Pesticide residues, Total diet study, Exposure assessment, Risk characterizatio

Hommage à Jean-Michel Jouany, le père de l'écotoxicologie

Article de vulgarisation dans le cadre de l'initiative LIEC '50 ans de l'écotoxicologie': un hommage à un des pionniers de l'écotoxicologi

Impact of insecticides on the environment (non target species) and on human health

International audienceInsecticides have been widely used in pest control and pest-related diseases in agriculture, fishery, forestry and food industry. Such as other categories of pesticides, which include fungicides, herbicides, larvicides, … chemical insecticides do need to be toxic to target species to be allowed for use by regulatory authorities. These active substances are selected not only for their destructive efficiency, but also on the basis of the risks that should be minimal to non-target species and human health: a difficult challenge indeed! The shift from the hazardous organochlorines represented by the emblematic DDT, to the organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides, and to the less toxic pyrethroids, illustrate the trend and the search for substances of lesser concerns. The properties of persistence in environmental compartments, bioaccumulation in biota, biomagnification in food chains, and toxicity will explain the ban of most organochlorinated compounds as POPs (persistent organic pollutants) by the Stockholm convention in 2001. At present, organophosphates (OPs) and pyrethroids are the two main chemical classes in use owing to their degradability and low remanence in the environment. [Yet, in cases of insect resistance to these molecules, DDT may still be recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization) in vector control plans]. The second part of the lecture will deal with an overview of the toxicity of insecticides to non-target species and to people in the workplace. All the insecticide categories cited above are primarily neurotoxicants for invertebrates (insects) and vertebrates (mammals, humans). They exert their toxicity to target and non-target species as well, because the selectivity criterion cannot be fully met. Neurotoxicity is responsible for paralysis and death of insects in the short term, i.e., the symptoms of acute toxicity, but also for delayed syndromes of nervous poisoning at low doses of exposure of nontarget species (e.g., bees) and humans. Additionally, insecticides may display other forms of toxicity in humans, for instance on hepatic, immune, cardiac or endocrine functions…, leading to side effects in the long term at lower levels of exposure than those producing acute effects. Therefore, precautionary measures should be taken to prevent any occupational contamination through inhalation, contact or food ingestion. Individual and collective protection equipments should be provided and correctly used to avoid acute and chronic diseases of workers

Microorganisms : screening of toxicity

Vasseur Paule. Microorganisms : screening of toxicity. In: Diplômées, n°154, 1990. Quel environnement nous prépare le génie génétique ? Séminaire AFFDU-Currier 8-9 mars 1990. p. 247

Place des microorganismes dans les contrôles de toxicité

Vasseur Paule. Place des microorganismes dans les contrôles de toxicité. In: Diplômées, n°154, 1990. Quel environnement nous prépare le génie génétique ? Séminaire AFFDU-Currier 8-9 mars 1990. pp. 161-167

Les fondements de l’écotoxicologie française. Fiche thématique N°22

Les fondements de l’écotoxicologie française

Les Fondements de l'Ecotoxicologie Française: Conférence introductive en hommage au professeur Jean-Michel JOUANY (1929-2018), fondateur de l'écotoxicologie

National audienc