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Assessing childrens dietary pesticide exposure: Direct measurement of pesticide residues in 24-hr duplicate food samples

In response to calls for more direct measurements of pesticide residues in foods consumed by children, and to compare direct measures of pesticide residues in foods representing actual consumption with those reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program, Lu et al. measured pesticide residues in 239 24-hr duplicate food samples collected from 46 children in the Children's Pesticide Exposure Study (CPS). Parents collected duplicate food samples of all conventional fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices consumed by their children, and individual or composite food items were analyzed for residues of organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid insecticides. The authors report that 14% and 5% of food samples contained at least one OP or pyrethroid insecticide, respectively. They also detected a total of 11 OP insecticides and 3 pyrethroid insecticides. The authors conclude that findings support the need to reduce the presence of these pesticides in the food supply.