According to Paracelsus, pioneer of the medical revolution of the sixteenth century,
“Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a
poison or a remedy.” Paracelsus’ quote remains valid nowadays. Humans are
subjected to high chemical daily exposure levels, thus making risk assessment of
the utmost importance. Food safety is an important means to promote public health,
emerging as an extremely relevant research area. Still, the dissemination of scientific
information regarding food safety is not widely explored, leading us to further
investigate its specifics and preferred methods of assessment. For decades, the global
demand for food has been increasing as a result of population growth and changes in
diets. Land for agriculture and storage options are scarce, justifying the ample use of
pesticides and insecticides in every step of the production chain.
Pyrethroids constitute the majority of agricultural and veterinary pesticides and
commercial household insecticides. Residues of pyrethroids are the main source of
agricultural pollution and are potentially hazardous, becoming a public health
concern [1].
Pyrethroids are systemic pesticides with a regulated use in food products, livestock, and livestock feed. They are often found on the surface of fruits and leafy
vegetables [2] or deposited on the lipid bilayer in products of animal origin [3]. In
this chapter, we will explore topics concerning the potential risks of human exposure
to pyrethroid residues in food products, considering the role of population’s diet in
the risk assessment.
Risk assessment is the scientific basis for risk management according to various
international agencies. The US Environmental Protection Agency defines the evaluation of potential outcomes of pesticides in food products through human health
risk assessment as the process to estimate the nature and probability of adverse
health effects in humans who may be exposed to chemicals in contaminated environmental media, now or in the future (https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-science-andassessing-pesticide-risks/overview-risk-assessment-pesticide-program).
Risk
assessment is also the basis of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which through
the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the Joint FAO/WHO
Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) establishes international guidelines for
pesticide residues in specific food items [4].
Most international environmental protection agencies use a four-step process for
human health risk assessments:
1. Hazard identification – aims to analyze available data on toxicity and mode of
action of agents present in a particular food or group of foods which are capable
of causing adverse health effects. Hazard identification is traditionally performed
through observation of the effects of pesticide residues in humans and animals
(domesticated and laboratory) and in vitro and structure-activity relationship
analyses.
2. Hazard characterization – is the description of the relationship between levels or
dose of the consumed residue of pesticide and the probability of development and
severity of an adverse health outcome. Hazard characterization of threshold toxic
effects usually constitutes reference data, such as the acceptable daily intake
(ADI), for example, for a residue of a pesticide in food products.
246
T. M. Pizzolato and A. Dallegrave
“Poison is in everything, and no thing is without poison. The dosage makes it either a
poison or a remedy.” Paracelsus’ quote remains valid nowadays. Humans are
subjected to high chemical daily exposure levels, thus making risk assessment of
the utmost importance. Food safety is an important means to promote public health,
emerging as an extremely relevant research area. Still, the dissemination of scientific
information regarding food safety is not widely explored, leading us to further
investigate its specifics and preferred methods of assessment. For decades, the global
demand for food has been increasing as a result of population growth and changes in
diets. Land for agriculture and storage options are scarce, justifying the ample use of
pesticides and insecticides in every step of the production chain.
Pyrethroids constitute the majority of agricultural and veterinary pesticides and
commercial household insecticides. Residues of pyrethroids are the main source of
agricultural pollution and are potentially hazardous, becoming a public health
concern [1].
Pyrethroids are systemic pesticides with a regulated use in food products, livestock, and livestock feed. They are often found on the surface of fruits and leafy
vegetables [2] or deposited on the lipid bilayer in products of animal origin [3]. In
this chapter, we will explore topics concerning the potential risks of human exposure
to pyrethroid residues in food products, considering the role of population’s diet in
the risk assessment.
Risk assessment is the scientific basis for risk management according to various
international agencies. The US Environmental Protection Agency defines the evaluation of potential outcomes of pesticides in food products through human health
risk assessment as the process to estimate the nature and probability of adverse
health effects in humans who may be exposed to chemicals in contaminated environmental media, now or in the future (https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-science-andassessing-pesticide-risks/overview-risk-assessment-pesticide-program).
Risk
assessment is also the basis of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which through
the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the Joint FAO/WHO
Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) establishes international guidelines for
pesticide residues in specific food items [4].
Most international environmental protection agencies use a four-step process for
human health risk assessments:
1. Hazard identification – aims to analyze available data on toxicity and mode of
action of agents present in a particular food or group of foods which are capable
of causing adverse health effects. Hazard identification is traditionally performed
through observation of the effects of pesticide residues in humans and animals
(domesticated and laboratory) and in vitro and structure-activity relationship
analyses.
2. Hazard characterization – is the description of the relationship between levels or
dose of the consumed residue of pesticide and the probability of development and
severity of an adverse health outcome. Hazard characterization of threshold toxic
effects usually constitutes reference data, such as the acceptable daily intake
(ADI), for example, for a residue of a pesticide in food products.
246
T. M. Pizzolato and A. Dallegrave