Cumulative dietary risk characterisation of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid

• Main Authors: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Peter S Craig, Bruno Dujardin, Andy Hart, Antonio F Hernandez‐Jerez, Susanne Hougaard Bennekou, Carsten Kneuer, Bernadette Ossendorp, Ragnor Pedersen, Gerrit Wolterink, Luc Mohimont
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2020-04-01
• Series: EFSA Journal
• Subjects: pesticide residues; thyroid; cumulative risk assessment; probabilistic modelling; expert knowledge elicitation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6088

Abstract A retrospective chronic cumulative risk assessment of dietary exposure to pesticide residues, supported by an uncertainty analysis based on expert knowledge elicitation, was conducted for two effects on the thyroid, hypothyroidism and parafollicular cell (C‐cell) hypertrophy, hyperplasia and neoplasia. The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific report on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the thyroid. Cumulative exposure assessments were conducted through probabilistic modelling by EFSA and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) using two different software tools and reported separately. These exposure assessments used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and individual consumption data from 10 populations of consumers from different countries and different age groups. This report completes the characterisation of cumulative risk, taking account of the available data and the uncertainties involved. For each of the 10 populations, it is concluded with varying degrees of certainty that cumulative exposure to pesticides that have the chronic effects on the thyroid mentioned above does not exceed the threshold for regulatory consideration established by risk managers.