Further review of certain persistent organochlorine pesticides used in Great Britain.
- Great Britain. Advisory Committee on Pesticides and Other Toxic Chemicals
- Date:
- 1969
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Further review of certain persistent organochlorine pesticides used in Great Britain. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![(c) STUDY OF THE WHOLE DIET 72. A study designed to determine the level of residues of pesticides in the average British diet began in October 1966. Foodstuffs offered for sale for human consumption were purchased at retail outlets in twenty-one towns throughout Great Britain, once in each quarter of the year. The foodstuffs - were assigned to the following seven categories:—cereals, meats and fish, fats and oils, fruits and preserves, root vegetables, green vegetables, and milk. The foods were prepared as for table use, i.e. those that are normally eaten washed, peeled, or cooked, were so treated. The foods in each individual category were then blended in the proportion in which they occur in the total British diet. For example, the proportion of butter in the fats category was that proportion of butter in the total fats and oils consumed. Account was also taken of seasonal variations in consumption. 73. The results of this study [Appendix VI, Table (ii)] showed that the food reaching the consumer contains consistently low levels of organochlorine pesticides. The daily intakes, in pg*/kg body weight, calculated from these total-diet samples, are compared in Table 1 with the daily intakes proposed in 1967+ as acceptable by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)/ World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues, which incorporate wide safety margins. Table I | Daily intake in Acceptable daily intake pains body weight pg/kg body weight BP Pedecney 5 base <Rur hes | 0-6 10-0 Dieldrin 0-1 0-1 0-2 12-5 ST caceystiie aoa Ti <nckiatioect! 74. Some components of the diet contribute more to the overall pesticide intake than others. This is illustrated in Appendix VI, Fig. 1. Organochlorine residues accumulate in fats generally, and although the fats group examined in the whole-diet study comprise only a minor proportion of the diet by weight (about 5%) they nevertheless make a major contribution to the pesticide intake (about 36% of the total DDT and about 31% of the dieldrin). Over 80°% of the dietary intake of DDT is from meat, fats, and fruit; the amount from cereals, all vegetables, and milk, is relatively small. With the exception of the high proportion in the fats, the dietary intake of dieldrin is more evenly distributed between the food groups. As a result of these findings the Panel on Residues of Pesticides in Foodstuffs has initiated more detailed examinations of the components of the fruits and preserves, the fats and oils, and the fish and meats, categories. * ug—=microgram. + Report of the 1967 Joint Meeting of the FAO Working Party of Experts and the WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32173076_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
