Pesticide residues in selected food commodities : results from the danish national pesticide monitoring program 1995-1996

The paper presents results of analyses of 4182 samples collected from January 1995 to December 1996 for the Danish National Pesticide Monitoring Program. The program basis is a random sample control supplemented with a target control. The objectives of the control are to monitor consumer exposure to health hazards and to enforce national and European Community regulations. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration is responsible for establishing methods, data manipulation, and evaluation, but actual analyses are performed at 4 regional laboratories. In addition to a description of the Danish National Pesticide Monitoring Program on food, the effects of lowering the reporting limits are discussed. Pesticides included are those in current use as well as chlorinated pesticides like lindane, DDT, and HCB, occurring in food now primarily as a result of environmental contamination. Commodities analyzed are fruits, vegetables, cereals, bran, fish, and animal products such as meat, butter, cheese, fat, and eggs. In fruits and vegetables, residues were detected in 10% of 2515 samples, with higher incidences of detection for foreign commodities. Violation rate was 0.6%. In food of animal origin, low levels of organochlorine pesticides were detected in most fish samples and in more than half of the animal product samples. However, no results exceeding maximum residue limits were found. No residues of organophosphorus pesticides were detected in the 231 meat samples analyzed.