Exposure Status Of Children To Chemical Pesticides In Food: Systematic Review

Abstract

Pesticides are toxic for humans. Most children are susceptible, and once they are exposed to chemicals, they may develop a wide range of adverse health outcomes. Children are exposed to chemical pesticides through inhalation, oral ingestion, and dermal uptake. Oral dietary ingestion is a significant pathway for children's exposure to pesticide residue found in crops, fruits, and vegetables, which are among the primary sources of pesticide exposure through the diet. The main objective of this study was to review the exposure status of children to chemical pesticides in food in different research articles. Children's exposure status to different pesticide was identified (reviewed) through literature searches in “PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science and Springer Link” by using different search items and search criteria. A total of 1192 out of 1301 research articles and review articles were screened after excluding duplicate articles. After the literature review, only 89 articles met the eligibility criteria in which 21 randomly selected articles were included in this review. The result of residue estimation from the review of dietary supply of different research articles has summarized pesticide residue for 21 commodities. Among the fruit samples, Avocado and strawberries were found to contain less pesticide residue. Similarly, vegetable cabbage contains fewer pesticides. Organophosphate pesticides are used in an excessive amount in developed countries and produce di-alkyl phosphate metabolites including diethyl phosphate, diethyl di-thiophosphate, dimethyl phosphate, dimethyl triphosphate, and dimethyl dithiophosphate. Therefore, pesticides harm children as the concentration of these metabolites in the blood level determines the health status of children. safer or less toxic pesticides should be used and it should be determined whether the pesticide use on food is safe for children and includes an additional safety factor.