Pesticide maximum levels

Regulation on mles for provisions of Directive 86/362/EEC and Directive 90/642/EEC on the maximum levels of pesticide residues... 

CEC. 1976. Council directive of 23 November 1976 relating to the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on fruit and vegetables. Off J Euro Comm L340 26-31. 

The FFDCA governs the establishment of pesticide tolerance for food and feed products. A tolerance is the maximum level of pesticide residues allowed in or on human food and animal feed. ... 

For example, in order to meet the demanding requirements of legislation such as the European Union (EU) Baby Food Directive (Directive 95/5/EC and subsequent revisions), analysts must improve on the scope and sensitivity of multiresidue methods of analysis. This Baby Food Directive, which became effective on 1 July 2002, limits residues of all pesticides to a maximum level of 0.01 mgkg There will also be a banned list of pesticides, annexed to the Directive, which will not permit the use of certain pesticides on crops intended for use in baby food production. As a consequence, food manufacturers often require residue results for raw or primary ingredients within 24 8 h of sample receipt at the laboratory. 

When the normal use of a pesticide on a food crop may pose the potential to leave a food residue, the EPA establishes a tolerance. The tolerance represents the maximum level of a pesticide residue allowed on the food crop. Tolerances are pesticide and crop specific different crops may have different tolerance levels for a particular pesticide, while a particular crop may have different tolerance levels for the different pesticides that may be used on it. 

Examples of standard settings developed by the WHO include air quality guidelines (Section 9.2.1.1) and drinking water guidelines (Section 9.2.1.2), and (in collaboration with the FAO) maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides and veterinary drugs and maximum levels for food additives (Section 9.2.1.3). 

The main FAO/WHO expert bodies include the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), and the Joint FAO/ WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). Codex Alimentarius provides lists of MRLs for pesticides and veterinary drugs, and maximum levels for food additives. 

Council Directive 94/30/EC of 23 June 1994 amending Annex II to Directive 90/ 642/EEC relating to the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables, and providing for the establishment of a list of maximum levels. Official Journal of the European Communities. No. L 189, pp. 70-83. 

This maximum legal exposure, often referred to as the Theoretical Maximum Residue Contribution, or TMRC, is compared with established toxicological criteria such as the reference dose (RfD) or Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) which represent, after analysis of animal toxicology data and extrapolations to humans, the daily exposure that is not considered to present any appreciable level of risk. When it is determined that the TMRC exposure is below the RfD or ADI, the EPA usually considers the risks from the pesticide in question to be negligible and approves the manufacturer s petition to establish a tolerance at or slightly greater than the maximum levels identified from the manufacturer s controlled field trials (Winter, 1992a). 

The ability to use probabilistic approaches to assess dietary pesticide exposure has also changed much of the emphasis of pesticide risk assessment practices from assessing long-term (chronic) exposure to short-term (acute) exposure. Deterministic approaches worked well with chronic assessments since the day-to-day variability in food consumption patterns and the variability of pesticide residue levels tended to average out over the course of a 70-year exposure period. Deterministic approaches have also often been used in the assessment of acute dietary risk by assuming an upper percentile level of food consumption and the maximum detected or allowable level of residue. The point estimate determined in this manner is then compared with the RfD to determine the acceptability of exposure under the specified conditions. 

ADI Acceptable Daily Intake the amount of a specific food additive or contaminant (e.g., pesticide) thought to be the maximum level that should be consumed on a daily basis. ADI values are normally determined by experts of WHO and FAO Codex Alimentarius Committee. 

The sea areas with the maximum levels of pesticides do not mostly coincide with the sea areas featuring the maximum levels of oil products, although... 

Pigs were fed for 14 weeks with feed enriched with organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The pesticides used were pure calibrants of HCB, a-HCB, b-HCB, y-HCB, heptachlor, dieldrin, endrin, and p,p -DDT. Quantities of 100 mg to 1.8 g of these compounds were weighed and dissolved in hexane/maize oil. For b-HCB, acetone/maize oil was used. The desired amounts were calculated using maximum levels for fat applicable in EC... 

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