Kuwait's Total Diet Study: Dietary intake of organochlorine, carbamate, benzimidazole and phenylurea pesticide residues

The State of Kuwait in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a Total Diet Study (TDS) to estimate intakes of pesticide residues by the population. The levels of organochlorine (OC) pesticides, carbamates, benzimidazoles, and phenylureas in the TDS core list are reported here. The TDS core list was established through a national food consumption survey. All food items (140 for the Kuwaiti adult) were prepared as eaten and analyzed for the pesticides mentioned above. The FDA's multiresidue methods. in Volume I of the Pesticide Analytical Manual were used in gas, liquid, and gel permeation chromatographic analyses. Only vegetable and fruit samples contained pesticide residues (mg/kg), including the carbamates 1-naphthol (1.4) and 3H-carbofuran (0.94) in carrots; the OC pesticide vinclozolin (0.47), 3H-carbofuran (0.66), and fenuron (0.6) in kiwi fruit; the OC pesticide procymidone (0.32) and carbendazim (0.5) in grapes; 3H-carbofuran (5.0) in apricots; the OC pesticides captan (0.013) and thiabendazole (0.63) in pears; captan (0.035) in plums; and carbendazim (0.4) in mandarin oranges. The levels of 3H-carbofuran found in both apricots and kiwi fruit exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) of the United Nations. The daily intakes of pesticides by the different population groups are discussed in light of the FAO/WHO acceptable daily intakes.