Annexes to the statement Comparison of cumulative dietary exposure to pesticide residues for the reference periods 2014-2016 and 2016-2018 - Input and output data sets

Retrospective dietary exposure assessments were conducted for groups of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid and acute effects on the nervous system: 

1. hypertrophy, hyperplasia and neoplasia of C-cells, i.e. affecting the parafollicular cells or the calcitonin system of the thyroid (CAG-TCP);
2. hypothyroidism, i.e. affecting the follicular cells and/or the hormone system of the thyroid (CAG-TCF);
3. brain and/or erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase inhibition (CAG‑NAN);
4. functional alterations of the motor division (CAG-NAM).

The pesticides considered in this assessment were identified and characterised in the scientific reports on the establishment of cumulative assessment groups of pesticides for their effects on the thyroid (here) and on the nervous system (here).

The exposure calculations used monitoring data collected by Member States under their official pesticide monitoring programmes in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and individual food consumption data from ten populations of consumers from different countries and from different age groups. Regarding the selection of relevant food commodities, the assessment included water, foods for infants and young children and 35 raw primary commodities of plant origin that are widely consumed within Europe.

Exposure estimates were obtained with SAS^® software using a 2-dimensional probabilistic method, which is composed of an inner-loop execution and an outer-loop execution. Variability within the population is modelled through the inner-loop execution and is expressed as a percentile of the exposure distribution. The outer-loop execution is used to derive 95% confidence intervals around those percentiles (reflecting the sampling uncertainty of the input data).

Results were compared to those previously obtained for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, and exposure did not change significantly over time. However, an increase of the sampling uncertainty was identified for one pesticide in a specific food commodity. Strategies are therefore recommended to reduce the sampling uncertainty and to anticipate potential problems before initiating a cumulative risk assessment.

The input and output data for the exposure assessment are reported in the following annexes:

• Annex A.1 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCP for the period 2016-2018
• Annex A.2 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-TCF for the period 2016-2018
• Annex A.3 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAN for the period 2016-2018
• Annex A.4 – Input data for the exposure assessment of CAG-NAM for the period 2016-2018
• Annex B.1 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCP for the period 2016-2018
• Annex B.2 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-TCF for the period 2016-2018
• Annex B.3 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAN for the period 2016-2018
• Annex B.4 – Output data from the Tier II exposure assessment of CAG-NAM for the period 2016-2018

Further information on the data, methodologies and interpretation of the results are provided in the scientific report on the cumulative dietary exposure assessment of pesticides that have chronic effects on the thyroid (here) and on the nervous system (here).