[Studies on the results of monitoring of veterinary drug residues in food products of animal origin in Japan and other countries].

The positive list system was introduced in Japan for agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, feed additives and veterinary drugs in May 2006. After this time, food containing residues of these chemicals exceeding MRLs, or the default tolerance (uniform limit: 0.01 ppm) cannot be marketed in Japan. The number of chemicals to be tested for imported food at the port increased remarkably. We studied on the results of monitoring of imported food for the residues of veterinary drugs and change in trend of violation after the enforcement of the system. The number of violation of the veterinary drugs in imported food increased largely, most of them were attributed to chloramphenicol and nitrofurans in seafood from Asian countries. Monitoring of the veterinary drugs in seafood in other countries such as EU, United States, United Kingdom and Australia were also studied.

[Study on pesticides residue monitoring data in some countries of the world].

In May 2006, the positive list system for residues of pesticide and veterinary medicines in food was introduced in Japan. Under this system, the number of regulated pesticides remarkably increased. The information of food items and foods/origins combinations in which pesticides were frequently detected over the detection limits and/or exceeding MRL in the foreign pesticides residue monitoring are useful to achieve the Japanese pesticides residue monitoring programme more efficiently and effectively. We investigated pesticides residue monitoring data published by food safety authorities of North America, Europe and Oceania countries in their web sites. We focused food items and foods/origins combinations which Japan imported in large quantity. Most of pesticides residues detected in twelve food items were mainly fungicides and insecticides, and some residues level of their samples were exceeding the MRLs (maximum residue limits) established in Japan. Most of pesticides residues detected in European countries were also fungicides (e.g. maneb-group and procymidone) and insecticides (e.g. pirimiphos-methyl and malathion), but herbicides were less detected. We provided the collection of Web links to information sites of MRLs and the pesticides residue monitoring reports published by food safety authorities of other countries.

[Study on usage of pesticides in various countries].

Usage of pesticides in food items in export countries was studied, focusing items which Japan imports in large quantity. Japan has imported field crops such as wheat, corn and soy bean, and also grapefruit in large quantity on a weight base, mainly from United States, Australia and Canada. While, Japan has imported various kinds of vegetables in which China had the largest share. We collected usage data of pesticides for 44 food items of 17 countries of 2004. Pesticides which were used frequently (usage rank within top ten in each item/country) were dichlorvos, carbofuran, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate (insecticides), mancozeb, carbendazim, thiophanate-methyl, chlorthalonil (fungicides), glyphosate, 2,4-D, paraquat, acetochlor (herbicides). Carbendazim, thiophanate-methyl, acetochlor and dichlorvos were mainly used in China. Dithiocarbamates are used frequently in various food items in various countries, and also frequently detected in monitoring in foreign countries. Some pesticides such as bisultap, monosultap, etaboxam and triazmate were used only in certain countries, and available information on toxicity or analytical method was very limited. Some of pesticides described above have not been analyzed in the pesticide residue monitoring in Japan before 2005,however, many of them are subjects of analysis for import food after 2006 with the enforcement of positivelist system for residues of pesticide and veterinary medicines in food in Japan.

[Development of the databases for ADI (acceptable daily intake) and relevant information on food additives, pesticides and veterinary drugs].

Databases for ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) and relevant information on food additives, pesticides and veterinary drugs were developed. The databases we developed are easily accessible on the web, and contain ADIs, latest evaluation year, classification and use, as well as synonym and CAS registry number. The databases are designed to be easily updated by researchers as ADI and relevant information are updated or added without delay. The database for food additives has already provided from the homepage of NIHS, and the access log of the web site was 1325/month in December 2005 and 2179/month in March 2006.

[Material labeling of soft plastic toys and plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride products].

We investigated the labeling and content of plasticizers of soft plastic toys. First, we investigated material labeling in 96 products purchased in fiscal years 2000 and 2001. Among these products, 43% of those purchased in fiscal 2000 and 68% of those purchased in fiscal 2001 were labeled. We then investigated the kinds and amounts of plasticizers in 73 soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toys. Three kinds of phthalates and six other kinds of plasticizers were detected in the soft PVC toys. Diisononyl phthalate, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, diisononyl adipate, and O-acetyl tributyl citrate were detected at high frequency, and in large amounts. The average total content of all plasticizers was 280 mg/g for the products purchased in fiscal 2000 and 227 mg/g for those in fiscal 2001. In fiscal 2001, antioxidants, 4-nonylphenol, and bisphenol A were investigated in addition to plasticizers.

[Estimation of daily oral exposure to phthalates derived from soft polyvinyl chloride baby toys].

Daily oral exposure of babies to phthalate was estimated on the basis of the mouthing time of infants and the oral concentration of diisononyl phthalate (DINP) released from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toy specimens. Total mouthing time, including the use of pacifiers, ranged widely from 11.4 min to 351.8 min with the mean of 105.3 +/- 72.1 min. The mean of the total mouthing time without pacifiers was 73.9 +/- 32.9 min. The average amount of DINP in saliva was 92.4 +/- 56.8 micrograms/10 cm2/hr, ranging from 13.2 micrograms/10 cm2/hr to 240.4 micrograms/10 cm2/hr. The exposure of phthalate in two different trials was estimated by the method of Monte Carlo simulation, one with the total mouthing time with pacifiers and the other with the total mouthing time without pacifiers. The average exposure in the former trial was 21.4 micrograms/kg/day and the 95th percentile was 65.8 micrograms/kg/day, while in the latter it was 14.8 micrograms/kg/day and the 95th percentile was 35.7 micrograms/kg/day.