臺灣農藥科學第一期

基準劑量推估每日可接受攝食量

Using the Benchmark Dose Approach to Perform a

Risk Assessment of 31 Pesticides

Shui-Yuan Lu

* , Wei-Chien Mou

, Min-Chen Chen

, Wei-Ren Tsai

Abstract

Lu, S. Y., Mou, W. C., Chen, M. C., and Tsai, W. R. 2016. Using the benchmark dose approach to

perform a risk assessment of 31 pesticides. Taiwan Pestic. Sci. 1: 24-49.

This study analyzed the toxicity of pesticides using the benchmark dose (BMD)

approach. For this, we collected toxicological records for 109 pesticides from the Joint FAO/

WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),

and other related reports or references. We then used software developed by the USEPA to

analyze BMD and benchmark dose lower bound (BMDL) values. Among 109 pesticides,

only 31 met the requirements for BMD anlaysis; and we therefore could not fit models

for approximately two thirds of pesticides. This primarily occurred due to experimental

design and effect level. For the 31 pesticides that underwent BMD analysis, criteria for

quality determination were based on the BMD/BMDL ratio, goodness of fit (GOF), and the

BMD range. The BMD/BMDL ratio should be less than two, and our data was fulfilled and

not fulfilled with 65% and 35%, respectively. For the GOF test developed by the USEPA,

smaller Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) scores, and larger P values indicate better model

performance. Out of the Log-Logistic models that we developed for the 31 pesticides,

the best one had an AIC score of around 10 and a P value of around 0.90. In Log-Logistic

models, the absolute value of scaled residuals should be less than two. Furthermore, criteria

of BMD in the range was fulfilled and not fulfilled for 94% and 6% of pesticides, respectively.

We also found that, for most of the 31 pesticides, the BMDL value was greater than the no-

observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL). Our results show that the BMD approach can serve

as a robust tool for pesticide risk assessment. We strongly suggest that the animal toxicity

studies which investigate new pesticides should meet the requirements of BMD analysis in

order to fully elucidate associated risks.

Key words:

benchmark dose, pesticides, acceptable daily intake, risk assessment.

Accepted: September 9, 2016.

* Corresponding author, Email:

Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, Council of Agriculture. Taichung.