Dietary exposure to organophosphorus pesticides for young children in Tokyo and neighboring area

Dietary ingestion is a significant pathway of human exposure to organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. This study aims to determine the occurrence of OP pesticide in the diet of young children in Japan and estimate their exposure. The study was conducted by analyzing duplicate diet samples collected from 33 children aged 3 to 6 years old in Tokyo and the nearby area in Japan. Seven OP pesticides that are mainly used for agriculture in Japan (fenitrothion, trichlorfon, dichlorvos, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, malathion, and EPN) were targeted for analysis. As a result of the study, fenitrothion was frequently found in the week's diet (21%) of children, followed by diazinon (14%), chlorpyrifos (11%), and malathion (4%); the daily intake of pesticides was also estimated to range from < 110 to 180 ng/day, < 70 to 800 ng/day, < 70 to 100 ng/day, and ≤ 110 ng/day, respectively. Daily intake of diazinon per kg body weight was relatively higher than other target pesticides and the maximum value was 50 times below the acceptable daily intake set by Japan Ministry of Health and Labor Welfare. Occurrence of malathion in the diet of children in the present study was lower than that reported in 1980s, supposed due to the decreasing level of malathion in wheat and wheat products. Frequent detection of fenitrothion in diet is a significant trend observed in Japan, and is considered due to the high and widespread usage of the pesticide inside of the country.