Search

Pesticides are not only used on food but also on non-food crops, such as tobacco, to control a range of unwanted animal, plant, and microbial, fungal pests. The residue levels in tobacco leaves are expected to decline up to harvest, during drying, and when the leaves are further processed. Additional pesticides may also be applied to the finished product and residue levels may remain present even when the tobacco is burned. Human exposure to pesticide residues on tobacco occurs when residues remaining in cigarette smoke are inhaled. Based on this assumption, the objectives of this research were (i) to determine the level of pesticides residues in harvested tobacco leaves and (ii) to assess the risk of human exposure to these residues in tobacco smoke. Pesticide residues were detected in all analysed tobacco samples. These detected residues represent ten different active ingredients (AI), three of these AIs (thiodicarb, alachlor, and endosulfan) are no longer allowed in Europe. A 54.7% of these residues were quantifiable. Furthermore, it was found that with the use of solid-phase extraction sorbent (SPE) as adsorbent and n-hexane as solvent, higher recoveries of the pesticide residues in the tobacco smoke from the amount spiked can be obtained. It was also found that cigarette filters help to reduce the intake of residues of pesticides that may be present in cigarettes. Finally, the study concluded that both active smoking and passive smoking populations are exposed to pesticide residues in the tobacco smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The consumption of seaweed is increasing in Europe. • Introducing the innovative foods on market may result in potential health issues. • Exposure calculations are needed to assess health risk for the populations. • For real estimation of the exposure, digestion of food in the body should be considered. The chronic exposure to heavy elements, i.e. Ni, As, Cd, Hg and Pb the evaluation of toxicological risk through intake of raw or seaweed based foods for Belgian consumers is presented in this study. The bioaccessible fraction, obtained for different metals, were used to refine the exposure values to avoid overestimation in the reported exposures. The decrease in the exposure values was higher for As with average bioaccessible fraction of 56.8% followed by Pb, Cd, Ni and Hg. The pure seaweeds show more approximation or exceeding of toxicological limits compared to the composite foodstuffs. For all elements (except Hg), toxicological limits are approached at the maximum exposure situation due to consumption of certain seaweed-based foods. Further, the study demonstrates that the introduction of innovative foods on an emerging market may result in potential health issues due to the shift in consumption patterns as the increased consumption of seaweed and their derivatives in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]