Evaluation of Monitoring Data in Foods

Pesticide residue monitoring data reflect the actual residues in foods as traded and are suitable for estimating consumers’ exposure, evaluating compliance with maximum residue limits, MRLs, and refining future risk-based sampling programmes. The long-term exposure (daily intake) is calculated from the national or regional food consumption data and average residues in the edible portions of food. The non-detected residues may be counted as LOQ, 0.5 LOQ, or 0. The short-term intake is calculated from the large portion consumption of individual foods multiplied by the highest residue concentration found in them and the relevant variability factor. Dietary exposure to a pesticide residue may be characterised by the hazard quotient (HQ) and the hazard index (HI). Cumulative exposure should only be assessed for those compounds having the common mechanism of toxicity (cumulative assessment group, CAG). The number of residue data required for these assessments should be calculated with distribution-free statistics at the targeted confidence level. The proper evaluation of the numerous results can only be completed if they are electronically recorded and can be retrieved in specific formats. Our objectives are to present methods for consumer risk assessment, testing compliance with MRLs, and ranking commodities for risk-based sampling and to give examples of electronic processing of residue data.