TY - JOUR AU - Winter, Carl K. PY - 2015 DA - 2015/07/10 TI - Chronic dietary exposure to pesticide residues in the United States JO - International Journal of Food Contamination SP - 11 VL - 2 IS - 1 AB - Discussions as to the extent of pesticide residue contamination in the food supply often rely on results of government residue monitoring programs focusing primarily upon the percentages of samples containing pesticide residues and the number of violative residues identified. Such an approach does not adequately convey the likelihood of pesticide residues posing consumer risks since residue regulatory limits are not safety standards and violative pesticide residues rarely constitute residues of health concern. It is more appropriate to develop estimates of actual dietary exposure to pesticides and to compare such estimates to established toxicological criteria such as the Chronic Reference Dose (RfD). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Total Diet Study (TDS) previously provided such information but last published its findings in 1995 to estimate dietary exposure to pesticides detected between 1986 and 1991. This paper provides updated estimates of dietary exposure to pesticides in the United States using the most recent TDS findings on pesticide residues. SN - 2196-2804 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40550-015-0018-y DO - 10.1186/s40550-015-0018-y ID - Winter2015 ER -