Demonstration of a tool to assess cumulative risks from combined exposure to multiple pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables : Project Kennis- en modelkoppelingen voor borging voedselveiligheid in de groenten- en fruitsector

Summary

This report presents the IPGF tool for performing risk calculations based on the pesticide residues monitoring data collected by the Dutch private vegetable and fruit sector organised in the Foundation Food Compass. The IPGF tool is an online platform, where IPGF is the acronym of Impactanalyse Pesticiden in Groenten en Fruit (impact analysis of pesticides in fruit and vegetables). The tool is developed to allow the Dutch private sector to perform cumulative risk calculations for pesticides in fruit and vegetables using a secure web service connection with the publicly developed Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) web platform that is available at the Dutch national institute for public health and the environment (RIVM) and is the selected platform of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for pesticide cumulative risk assessments. In addition to the cumulative risk calculations, the IPGF tool can also evaluate per-substance indicators based on legal requirements regarding the maximum residue limits (MRL) and acute reference doses (ARfDs), and it can evaluate compliance with private retail requirements of Dutch retailers. The potential of the IPGF tool is demonstrated in an artificial case study in which the Food Compass monitoring data of the years 2013-2021 were analysed. For each year in this period, the various occurrence, exposure and risk indicators were evaluated. Also a comparative analysis was done over all the years to obtain insights in possible trends. The results provide insight in the steps towards future use of the tool by the Dutch private sector as part of the food safety monitoring program. The report concludes with suggestions for further implementation.