Dietary exposure to organochlorine pesticide residues of the Hong Kong adult population from a total diet study

Dietary exposure of the Hong Kong adult population to organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues was estimated using a total diet study (TDS) approach. OCPs listed under the Stockholm Convention as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including, aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, dichlorodiphenyltricholroethane (DDT), endosulfan, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), α-hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH), β-HCH, lindane, mirex, pentachlorobenzene and toxaphene, were studied. Out of 600 composite samples, 55% contained one or more OCP residues at detectable levels. The most commonly detected OCP was DDT (32% of all composite samples), followed by HCB (30%) and endosulfan (22%). The lower- and upper-bound mean exposure estimates of OCP residues ranged from 0% to 0.5% and were 0.1-8.4% of their respective health-based guidance values (HBGVs). The lower- and upper-bound 95th percentile exposure estimates ranged from 0% to 1.2% and were 0.1-13.6% of their respective HBGVs. This indicated that dietary exposures to the OCP residues analysed would be unlikely to pose unacceptable health risks to Hong Kong adults.