Hygienic assessment of public health risks caused by food contamination with organochlorine pesticides

Abstract

Human economic activity leads to the accumulation of anthropogenic contaminants in food. The aim of the study was to analyze the public health risk associated with the oral intake of organochlorine pesticides (HCH, DDT), which are widely used in agriculture. The risk assessment was carried out taking into account data on the actual nutrition of 1798 people (823 men and 975 women) aged 18 to 65 years using the Nutri-prof software package. To assess the contamination of food with organochlorine pesticides, 16510 samples of various food groups were analyzed. The greatest non-carcinogenic risk due to the intake of HCH into the body with food is due to the consumption of bread and bread products, vegetables and melons, potatoes, milk and dairy products; meat and meat products, milk and dairy products. The highest level of total individual carcinogenic risk for DDT and HCH, taking into account the median concentration, corresponds to the third range and is acceptable for professional groups. The excess of the background risk values for the endocrine system in the consumption of bread and bakery products occurs at the age of 45, the transition from a negligible level of risk to a level of moderate risk occurs at the age of 65. The results obtained indicate the effectiveness of the system of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance over food safety, the methodological approach to risk assessment under consideration allows making timely management decisions, taking into account the nature of work and nutritional characteristics.