Estimation of risks of pesticide exposure, by food intake, to Koreans

The aim of this study was to evaluate theoretical maximum daily intake (TMDI) and estimated daily intake (EDI) for Korean by using maximum residue levels (MRLs), food intake, residue data and correction factors, and compare with acceptable daily intake (ADI) in order to estimate the health risk based on the pesticide exposure. Then, the oncogenic risks of the pesticides were assessed from TMDI and estimated daily intake with treatment (adjusted EDI). The percent ratio of TMDI to ADI for 262 pesticides was mostly below 80%, but 42 pesticides (16.0%) exceeded the ADI. EDI without treatment (non-adjusted EDI) and estimated daily intake with treatment (adjusted EDI) were summed up to about 6.41 ml/day/capita and 2.94 ml/day/capita, respectively. The percentage of ADI was TMDI (101.04%) > non-adjusted EDI (0.08%) > adjusted EDI (0.01%), and the exposure level of Korean population to whole pesticides was below the level to produce health risk. The dietary oncogenic risk for Koreans was estimated to be 7.3×10−4 on the basis of TMDI, 1.8×10−7 on the basis of adjusted EDI, and although the level from TMDI exceeded the risk level (1×10−6) of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the level from adjusted EDI, real exposure level, was below it.