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Dietary Exposure Assessment to Pesticides in Croatian School-Children—The Methodology of the Zagreb Region Total Diet Study

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Abstract

We present the methodology of the Total Diet Study (TDS-Zagreb) conducted in the City of Zagreb, on which an estimation of dietary exposure to pesticide residues in male adolescents in the ongoing PyrOPECh cohort study (HrZZ-IP-2019-04-7193; https://pyropech.imi.hr/index.php/project-summary-sazetak/) will be based. In the first phase, a list of core foods was extracted from the EFSA’s Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database, using food consumption data for the adult Croatian population. Due to the lack of data for Croatian adolescents, the list was modified using the data for adolescents from the Slovenian food consumption survey. In total, 169 items were mapped and categorised into 18 food groups. Types of consumed foods did not differ much between Croatian adults and Slovenian adolescents. For most of the food groups coverage was at least 95% of the diet. Observed differences for water-based desserts and seasoning and sauces intake were specific for the respective national cuisine. Since the intake of coffee drinks and wine was typically higher in the adult population and older adolescents, these items were excluded from the sampling list. Additionally, specific food (mainly fruits and vegetables) with low intake, but which are expected to be important contributors to pesticide exposure, were added to the list. In the second phase, food was purchased and prepared “as consumed”. Three to 5 subsamples were pooled into a composite sample, homogenised, and stored at − 20 °C until analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this type of study has never been conducted in south-eastern European countries, including Croatia.

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Notes

  1. “Chronic Food Consumption Grams per kilogram of body weight per day (g/kg bw per day)—All Subjects” data in EFSA FoodEx2 database.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food (HAPIH) for providing the microdata from the Croatian National Food Consumption Survey of the Adult Population. The authors also thank their colleagues Zrinka Benčak Gravara, Jagoda Mandić, Silvija Bošković, Marija Kujundžić Brkulj, Patricia Tomac, Selma Cvijetić and Adrijana Bjelajac for skilled assistance with sample collection and food preparation. A graphical abstract was created using graphics designed by Freepik.

Funding

The TDS study was conducted at the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia over two years. It was funded by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project “Exposure to pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides in children—risk assessment for adverse effects on neuropsychological development and hormonal status” PyrOPECh (grant code: HrZZ IP-2019-04-7193), aided by collaborative efforts with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland.

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Author notes

  1. Antonija Sulimanec and Marija Macan these authors contributed equally to this work (co-first authors).

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia

    Antonija Sulimanec, Marija Macan, Jelena Kovačić, Andreja Jurič, Željka Babić & Veda Marija Varnai

  2. UCD Institute of Food & Health, School of Agriculture and Food Science, Science Centre South, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Breige McNulty & Anne Nugent

  3. Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Anne Nugent

  4. Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, Centre for Food Safety, Osijek, Croatia

    Martina Pavlić & Darja Sokolić

  5. Food Chemistry Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine—Backweston Laboratory Complex, Stacumny Lane Celbridge Co., Kildare, Celbridge, Ireland

    Jim Garvey

  6. Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Irena Keser

  7. Department of Health Studies, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia

    Marijana Matek Sarić

  8. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Backweston Laboratory Campus, Celbridge, Ireland

    Brendan Murray

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  1. Antonija Sulimanec
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Antonija Sulimanec; Veda Marija Varnai; Breige McNulty; Anne Nugent; Jim Garvey. Methodology: Antonija Sulimanec; Marija Macan; Jelena Kovačić. Formal analysis and investigation: Antonija Sulimanec; Marija Macan; Jelena Kovačić; Andreja Jurič; Željka Babić; Jim Garvey; Brendan Murray; Veda Marija Varnai. Writing—original draft preparation: Antonija Sulimanec; Marija Macan; Jelena Kovačić; Veda Marija Varnai. Writing—review and editing: Breige McNulty; Anne Nugen; Martina Pavlić; Darja Sokolić; Irena Keser; Marijana Matek Sarić; Veda Marija Varnai. Funding acquisition: Veda Marija Varnai. Resources: Veda Marija Varnai; Jim Garvey. Supervision: Veda Marija Varnai.

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Correspondence to Antonija Sulimanec.

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Sulimanec, A., Macan, M., Kovačić, J. et al. Dietary Exposure Assessment to Pesticides in Croatian School-Children—The Methodology of the Zagreb Region Total Diet Study. Expo Health (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-024-00646-4

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