United States setting tolerance levels

When illegal residues have been found in monitoring studies conducted by the FDA or USD A, the reason has often been that no U.S. tolerance had been requested for that particular pesticide in that specific crop. For example, an imported crop would be deemed to be adulterated and would be seized at the port of entry into the United States if found to contain a pesticide residue in the absence of a tolerance in that crop. This is so even if tolerances have been set for the same pesticide in several crops grown in the United States and the pesticide had been used to control a pest that does not exist in the United States. Furthermore, an international maximum residue level (MRL) might already have been estabUshed for that pesticide—crop combination under the Codex system of standards for food of importance in international trade. The U.S. GAO issued two reports on food safety and pesticides in 1991 (89,90). 

Another study found that trichloroethylene can be absorbed from the atmosphere by foods and concentrated over time, so that acceptable ambient air levels may still result in food levels which exceed acceptable limits (Grob et al. 1990). The authors estimated that in order to limit food concentrations of trichloroethylene to 50 pg/kg (the maximum tolerated limit for food halocarbons in Switzerland), the level in surrounding air should not exceed 38.5 pg/m (0.007 ppm). Since the accepted levels found near emission sources are often far above this limit, foods processed or sold near these sources may routinely exceed the tolerated trichloroethylene concentration, thus making the setting of air emission standards problematic. It is also noteworthy that the limits recommended by Grob et al. (1990) exceed acceptable ambient air concentrations for many regions of the United States (see Chapter 7). 

The optimal dietary requirements of vitamin E for humans are not yet known, especially with the emergence of new paradigms regarding adequate levels of dietary micronutrients (Chalem, 1999). Recommendations in the United States and Canada have been reevaluated, and a new concept of Dietary Reference Intake (DRI, 2000) was issued for vitamin E and other antioxidants. The DRI recommendation should prevent specific deficiency disorders, support health in general ways and minimize the risk of toxicity, which carries more tasks than the previous recommendations (DRI, 2000). Accordingly, the recommendations for intakes were set to higher levels than previously. Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) for adults, both men and women, were set to 12 mg a-tocopherol/day, RDA to 15 mg/day and Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) to 1000 mg/day. Moreover, the EAR and RDA are based only on the 2R-stereoisomeric forms of a-tocopherol, because the other vitamers... 

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are used quite a lot and refer to a set of four nutrient-based reference values that represent the approach to provide quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes. The DRIs replace and expand on the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for the United States and the Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs) for Canada. The DRIs consist of the RDAs, the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), and the Adequate Intake (AI). Generally, each of these values represents average daily nutrient intake of individuals in the diet (Goldhaber, 2003 Murphy and Poos, 2002 Parr et ah, 2006 Trumbo et ah, 2001 Yates et ah, 1998). In addition, dietary intake data for minerals could be assessed within the context of the bioavailability and other factors affecting the utilization of elements by the human body, such as age, sex, and health aspects (Dokkum, 1995). 

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