Probabilistic dietary risk assessment of triazole and dithiocarbamate fungicides for the Brazilian population

Residue data for triazoles (TR) and dithiocarbamates (DT) in 30,786 samples of 30 foods were obtained from mainly two national monitoring programs, and consumption data from a national survey conducted among persons aged 10 years or older. About 16% of the samples contained TR, mainly grape (53.5%), and 16.2% contained DT, mainly apple (59.3%). Flusilazole was the index compound used for the acute effects of TR for women of child-bearing-age (cranium-facial malformation and skeletal variation), cyproconazole for the chronic effects of TR (hepatoxicity), and ethylene-bis-dithitiocarbamates (EBDC) for DT (thyroid toxicity). Exposures were estimated using the Monte Carlo Risk Assessment software. Different models were tested, and a Model-Then-Add approach was found to best estimate the chronic exposures to DT and TR. At the 99.9th percentile (P99.9), the cumulative acute TR intakes accounted for up to 0.5% of the flusilazole ARfD, mainly from beans and rice consumption. The chronic TR and DT intakes accounted for 1 and 6.7% of the respective index compound ADIs, with beans and rice accounting for most of the TR intake (similar to 70%), and apple for about 51-56% of the DT intake. The estimated risks from the exposure to TR and DT indicate no health concern for the Brazilian population.