The relationship between physico-chemical properties and maximum residue levels and tolerances of crop protection products for crops set by the US, EU and Codex

Pernille Thorbek (1) , Kieran Hyder (2)

1 Ecological Sciences
2 Dietary Safety

The residues on foodstuffs resulting from the use of crop protection products on foodstuffs are a function of many factors, e.g. environmental conditions, dissipation and application rate, some of which are linked to the physico-chemical properties of the active ingredients (a.i.). Here, residue limits (maximum residue levels (MRLs) and tolerances) of fungicides, herbicides and insecticides set by different regulatory authorities were compared, and the relationship between physico-chemical properties of the a.i.s and residue limits was explored. This was done using simple summary statistics and artificial neural networks. US tolerances tended to be higher than EU MRLs. Generally, fungicides had the highest residue limits followed by insecticides and herbicides. Physico-chemical properties (e.g. aromatic proportion, non-carbon proportion and water solubility) and crop type explained up to 50% of the variation in residue limits. This suggests that physico-chemical properties of the a.i.s may control important aspects of the processes leading to residues.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Pernille Thorbek, Kieran Hyder. The relationship between physico-chemical properties and maximum residue levels and tolerances of crop protection products for crops set by the US, EU and Codex. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2006, 23 (08), pp.764-776. ⟨10.1080/02652030600643377⟩. ⟨hal-00577593⟩