Probabilistic cumulative dietary risk assessment of pesticide residues in foods for the German population based on food monitoring data from 2009 to 2014

Cumulative dietary risks for the German population owing to pesticide residues in foods were assessed using food monitoring and consumption data. Based on grouping principles for cumulative assessment groups (CAG) as defined by the European Food Safety Authority, probabilistic modelling gave cumulative long- and short-term dietary exposures relevant to the nervous and thyroid system. Compound specific toxicological reference values were considered to assess the total margins of exposure (MoEs) for each CAG, allowing an assessment of the cumulative dietary consumer risk. For the German population, no public health concerns were identified for 6 of 11 CAGs. For three CAGs high uncertainties remained, since MoEs were less than the usually required threshold of 100 for the upper confidence interval of the modelling uncertainty. For two CAGs relevant to the nervous and thyroid system, possible health risks cannot be excluded with the selected approach. Most potent risk drivers were chlorpyrifos and the group of dithiocarbamates (expressed as propineb). For regulatory decisions on possible cumulative dietary health risks the limitations of the published approaches and the absence of harmonized data sources for robust refinements have to be considered. Future research to reduce this high uncertainty is considered necessary in this area.