Temporal Trends in Dietary Pesticide Exposure: A Comparative Analysis of U.S.Children’sConsumption Patterns and Residue Monitoring Data from 2005-2010 and 2015-2020

Abstract

Dietary intake of pesticide-treated foods represents a major route of exposure for the general population. Children have unique susceptibility to pesticide exposure due to their developing physiology and higher intake of certain foods per unit bodyweight. Children’s dietary exposure is influenced by the amount of food they consume and the estimated concentration of pesticide residue on the consumed food. The present study aimed to estimate and compare dietary exposuresfor2005-2010 and 2015-2020 by simultaneous use of consumption data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES)and pesticide residue monitoring data from the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP)collected during those periods. Consumption data were obtained from NHANES dietary surveys and grouped by age according to developmental lifestages in children: infants<1 year old, children 1-2 years old, children 3-5 years old, and juice. Dairy milk consumption decreased within all age groups in 2015-2020, while breastfeeding prevalence increased among infants and children 1-2 years old. Infants consumed less juice in the latter time period but were observed to consume more bottled water, suggesting that bottled water is replacing tap water in formula preparation in recent years. Children aged 1-2 years old typically had the highest dietary intake of fruits and fruit juice, while infants typically consumed the highest quantity of vegetables relative to their bodyweight. Leafy vegetables including spinach, kale, and lettuce had relatively high residue concentrations among the commodities evaluated, along with bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, pears, and strawberries. Pyrethroid insecticides contributed to the majority of residuesabove limits of detectionin both time periods, along with newer diamide chemistries (chlorantraniliproleandflubendiamide) emerginginthe2015-2020 samples. When considering both consumption and insecticide residue, the highest50thpercentileintake dose was observed for infant consumption of spinach at 6.7mg/kg-bw/dayin2015-2020compared to1.4mg/kg-bw/dayin2005-2010.The intake dose for insecticides on green beans and sweet potatoes also increased in 2015-2020, with infants representing the most exposed subgroup, while intake decreased for tomatoes, grapes, and pears compared to 2005-2010. Overall, these findings reveal important trends in children’s consumption habits and relevant changes in insecticide use patterns in recent years which can inform future dietary exposure assessments.