Abstract
In 2001, a total of 2125 samples of plant origin were analysed for residues of the most commonly used pesticides in Poland. Detectable residues were found in 18% of the samples, while in about 0.9% of the samples the residues exceeded national or/and EU harmonised Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). The long-term (chronic) dietary intake, based on monitoring data, was calculated for 7 pesticides in 9 commodities. The intake of 1 of the pesticide analysed (endosulfan/black currant combination) exceeded 1 % of Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) indicating a sufficient margin of safety for the adult consumer. The short-term (acute) intake was estimated for 19 pesticides in 12 commodities according to the European Commission recommendations. The ADI level was exceeded for toddlers in 7 cases, carbendazim in mushroom, linuron in carrot, chlorothalonil in greenhouse tomato, tolylfluanid and EBDC in strawberry and flusilazole and diazinon in apple. In all cases, however, the safety factor of 2 for a toddler still existed.
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