FAO/PL:1967/M/11/1 WHO/Food Add./68.30 1967 EVALUATIONS OF SOME PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FOOD THE MONOGRAPHS The content of this document is the result of the deliberations of the Joint Meeting of the FAO Working Party of Experts and the WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues, which met in Rome, 4 - 11 December, 1967. (FAO/WHO, 1968) FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Rome, 1968 HEPTACHLOR This pesticide was evaluated by the 1966 Joint Meeting of the FAO Working Party and the WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues (FAO/WHO, 1967). Although there are no important new data available which might change the previous recommendations for temporary tolerances, the previously recommended practical residue limits were reconsidered in the light of comments made by some member countries of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Pesticide Residues at its second session in the Hague in September 1967. This reconsideration has resulted in the following revision of recommendations. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOLERANCES AND PRACTICAL RESIDUE LIMITS Temporary tolerances See FAO/WHO, 1967. Practical residue limits The manufacturer confirms that the USA is the largest user of heptachlor in the world. The number of approved recommendations for use and actual scale of use in the USA exceed those of any other country. Heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide residues found in a total of 49,356 domestic samples of food and 3,836 import samples during the period 1 July 1963 - 30 June 1966, were found at a frequency of 7.5 per cent in domestic food and 1.5 per cent in imports. (Corresponding figures for other pesticides were : DDT, 26.7 per cent and 30.4 per cent; dieldrin, 17.8 per cent and 13.1 per cent; lindane, 4.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent). In total diet studies carried out over approximately the same period, the average amount of heptachlor epoxide in food was reported at 0.00004 mg/kg body weight (Duggan and Dawson, 1967), i.e. less than 10 per cent of the ADI recommended by the 1966 FAO/WHO Joint Meeting. Since the ADI is arrived at with a view to a lifetime of consumption by man, this USA average incidence and intake of these residues in food is a significant guideline to residues that can be expected to occur in the diet from the highest scale of use known. Consequently, a realistic revision is recommended of practical residue limits for the total of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide as follows : whole milk 0.005 ppm products manufactured from milk (on a fat basis) 0.125 ppm fat of meat 0.2 ppm cereals 0.02 ppm vegetables 0.05 ppm These temporary practical residue limits are recommended until 31 December 1970. FURTHER WORK Further work required before 31 June 1970 1. Additional data on total diet studies on both domestic and imported food. 2. Additional data on disappearance of residues during food processing and preparation for consumption. REFERENCES PERTINENT TO EVALUATION FOR TOLERANCES Duggan, R.E. and Dawson, K. Pesticides. (1967) A report on residues in food. FDA Papers, 1 : 2-10. FAO/WHO. (1967) Evaluation of some pesticide residues in food. FAO Mtg. Rept. No. PL:CP/15; WHO/Food Add./67.32.
See Also: Toxicological Abbreviations Heptachlor (EHC 38, 1984) Heptachlor (HSG 14, 1988) Heptachlor (ICSC) Heptachlor (PIM 578) Heptachlor (FAO Meeting Report PL/1965/10/1) Heptachlor (FAO/PL:CP/15) Heptachlor (FAO/PL:1968/M/9/1) Heptachlor (FAO/PL:1969/M/17/1) Heptachlor (AGP:1970/M/12/1) Heptachlor (WHO Pesticide Residues Series 4) Heptachlor (WHO Pesticide Residues Series 5) Heptachlor (Pesticide residues in food: 1991 evaluations Part II Toxicology) Heptachlor (CICADS 70, 2006)