Fig 1.
Pesticides and agricultural GMOs used worldwide.
Data from ‘Pesticides Industry Sales and Usages Report: 2006 and 2007 Market Estimates’ [13] and ‘Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2013 [14]. (A) Data for pesticides represent 2006 and 2007 EPA estimates based on Cropnosis Limited and USDA/NASS. Others include nematicides, fumigants, other miscellaneous conventional pesticides, and chemicals used as pesticides such as sulfur, petroleum oil and sulfuric acid. Wood preservatives, specialty biocides, and chlorine/hypochlorites are not included. (B) Data for cultivated GMOs come from ISAAA global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops. The herbicide tolerance is usually to Roundup, and the modified insecticides are usually from mutated Bt genes.
Table 1.
Rodent feed contaminants measured in this study.
For techniques, see materials and methods. All measurements were performed in accredited laboratories.
Fig 2.
Environmental contaminants in 13 rodent diets used worldwide.
Countries indicate the feed manufacturing locations, which can differ from the cultivations. (A) 262 pesticides have been measured in ppb (μg/kg) by multi-residue GC-MS and/or LC-MS/MS. F Fungicide, H Herbicide, I Insecticide. (B) GMOs quantifications (for 23 events) were performed by qPCR. Confidence intervals for GMOs were in average 35% per assay. (C) Heavy metals contents (ppb or μg/kg) were determined by Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. (D) PCDD/Fs + DL-PCBs are measured in ng TEQ/kg wet weight. (E) Indicators PCBs are measured in ppt (ng/kg dry weight). Reproducibility relative standard deviation are not indicated to improve readability, they have been calculated from fidelity data on repeatability and reproducibility within the laboratory (around 40% per assay for heavy metals, 20–30% for pesticides, 27–31% for PCDD/fs + DL-PCBs and 30 to 35.8% for indicators PCBs).
Table 2.
Maximum residue levels and daily intakes of contaminants in 13 rodent diets used worldwide in comparison to regulatory limits.
N: Number of diets in which a contaminant was detected. Max: Maximal quantities measured in the diets (diets over MRL in parentheses). MRL: Maximum Residue Levels. Max DI: calculated maximal daily intake (diets over ADI in parentheses). ADI: Acceptable Daily Intakes. NE: not existing. For pesticides and heavy metals, residue levels are in μg/kg (ppb) with MRLs for various cereals (EC/1107/2009, EU Pesticides database (available at www.ec.europa.eu/sanco_pesticides/public/) and Codex Standard 193–1995 respectively; ADIs are in μg/kg/bw/d (EFSA or FAO/WHO). For dioxins (PCDD/Fs) and DL-PCBs, residue levels are in ng TEQ /kg wet weight, indicators PCB (PCBi) are in ng/kg wet weight. The corresponding MRLs are for feed of plant origin with a moisture content of 12% (EU 277/2012). ADIs are in pg TEQ/kg/bw/d for PCDD/Fs and PCDD/Fs + DL-PCBs (EC 1881/2006) and in ng/kg/bw/d for the sum of the 6 PCBi (Afssa 2006-SA-0305, http://www.anses.fr/Documents/RCCP2006sa0305b.pdf).
Table 3.
Hazard quotients (HQ) and ΣHQ for 13 rodent diets used worldwide.
HQ were calculated for each contaminant according to regulatory guidelines for chronic non-cancer risk characterization (EPA, Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund RAGS Part A, Chapter 8, http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ragsa/). HQ is the ratio of the chronic daily exposure and the ADI of each contaminant. The sum of calculated HQ (ΣHQ) is indicated.
Fig 3.
Roundup residues (glyphosate + AMPA, ppb or μg/kg) as a function of Roundup-tolerant GMOs quantities (%) in 13 rodent diets used worldwide.
The linear regression was calculated in Stata (y = 5.34x + 69.97), the Pearson’s r indicates a significant correlation (r = 0.64, p = 0.019). The y-axis is labelled as such because while other glyphosate-based herbicides do exist, legally only Roundup should be used on glyphosate-tolerant plants due to commercial agreements. However, other glyphosate-based herbicides may be used in some countries.