Overall and class-specific scores of pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables as a tool to rank intake of pesticide residues in United States: A validation study

Abstract

Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables are among the primary sources of pesticide exposure through diet, but the lack of adequate measurements hinder the research on health effects of pesticide residues. Pesticide Residue Burden Score (PRBS) for estimating overall dietary pesticide intake, organochlorine pesticide score (OC-PRBS) and organophosphate pesticide score (OP-PRBS) for estimating organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides-specific intake, respectively, were derived using U.S. Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program data and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) food frequency questionnaire data. We evaluated the performance of these scores by validating the scores against pesticide metabolites measured in urine or serum among 3,679 participants in NHANES using generalized linear regression. The PRBS was positively associated with a score summarizing the ranks of all pesticide metabolites in a linear fashion (p for linear trend <0.001). Furthermore, individuals in the top quintile of this score had urinary pesticide metabolite levels 13.0% (95% CI 8.3%-17.7%) higher than individuals in the lowest quintile. Similarly, we observed significant associations of the OC-PRBS and OP-PRBS with the levels of lipid-adjusted total serum organochlorine pesticides and urinary creatinine-adjusted organophosphate pesticides, respectively. The relative difference (RD) in average pesticide metabolite rank between extreme quintiles was 17.8% (95% CI: 11.1%-24.4%, p for trend <0.001) for the OP-PRBS, whereas the RD was marginally significant at 7.0% (95% CI: -0.5%-14.4%, p for trend 0.07) for the OC-PRBS. The PRBS and OP-PRBS had similar performance when they were derived from fruits and vegetables with high vs. low pesticide residues, respectively (p for trend <0.001 for all associations). The OP-PRBS was associated with all measured organophosphate pesticides, whereas the positive association between OC-PRBS and averaged measured organochlorine pesticide residue rank was primarily driven by hexachlorobenzene. OC-PRBS had better performance when derived from more contaminated fruits and vegetables (p for trend 0.07) than from less contaminated Fruits and vegetables (p for trend 0.63), although neither of the associations achieved statistical significance. The PRBS and the class-specific scores for two major types of pesticides were significantly associated with pesticide biomarkers. These scores can reasonably rank study participants by their pesticide residue exposures from fruits and vegetables in large-scale environmental epidemiological studies.

Association Between Pesticide Residue Intake From Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables and Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women Undergoing Infertility Treatment With Assisted Reproductive Technology

“…However, our previous work has shown that higher intake of high–pesticide residue FVs was significantly associated with higher levels of urinary pesticide metabolites, supporting the use of the PRBS as an adequate measure to characterize exposure to pesticides through diet. 26 Second, our methodology does not allow linking specific pesticides to adverse reproductive effects. Further confirmation studies, preferably accounting for common chemical mixtures used in agriculture by biomarkers, are needed.…”

Organophosphate Pesticide Urinary Metabolites Among Latino Immigrants

“…Although most OP pesticides were withdrawn from residential use in the US in the early 2000s, data from the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicate that exposure remains common. 34,35 OP exposure pathways in the non-agricultural US population include OP pesticide residues on food, 36,37 environmental exposures to remaining residues from residential pesticide application, 38 and non-agricultural occupational exposures. 39 Assessments of OP pesticide exposure in non-agricultural US populations have focused on vulnerable communities, and have been largely limited to analyses of prenatal and early life OP exposure and child development.…”

Nonthermal plasma for pesticide and microbial elimination on fruits and vegetables: an overview

“…Pesticides are classified into insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and many other substances, while there are three main chemical groups of them which are carbamates, organophosphorous and organochlorinated pesticides (Hu et al, 2016). Pesticides are classified into insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and many other substances, while there are three main chemical groups of them which are carbamates, organophosphorous and organochlorinated pesticides (Hu et al, 2016).…”

“…Pesticides are defined as any substances or substance mixtures that are applied for preventing, destroying or repelling of pests. Pesticides are classified into insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and many other substances, while there are three main chemical groups of them which are carbamates, organophosphorous and organochlorinated pesticides (Hu et al, 2016). Pests and diseases may make up to one-third of loss of crop; therefore, it is very important for using pesticides to increase agricultural production (Sharma et al, 2010;Misra, 2015;Misra et al, 2016).…”