Toolkit

Real chemical load on the human body

The concept of a real chemical load on the human body.
In accordance with the established practice of hygienic regulation of various
factors in environmental objects (atmospheric air, water, soil, housing, food, etc.),
environmental quality management is essentially differentiated. At the same time,
for each chemical, biological and physical agent, a hygienic regulation is
established (MPC, SDC, MPL, MPOK, etc.), with the help of which the degree of
pollution of a particular environmental object is assessed and the necessary
preventive and recreational measures (technical , sanitary-technical, planning,
organizational, etc.), aimed at reducing the degree of pollution to the level
acceptable for each specific factor in a specific environment.
This system is of great practical importance, because it allows taking specific
measures to prevent the harmful effects of certain environmental pollutants.
Moreover, in accordance with the policy of our republic in the field of
environmental protection, differentiated management of its quality will be
developed and improved further.
At the same time, in modern conditions, a person can be exposed to chemical,
physical and biological factors simultaneously, both at work and in everyday life.
At the same time, the effect is observed not only of various combinations of
chemical substances simultaneously coming from any one environmental object
(combined action), but also the effect of one substance entering the human body
from various objects (complex action). Finally, a simultaneous effect on a person
of agents of different nature (combined action), for example, chemical compounds
and physical factors, can be observed.
Thus, along with the hygienic regulation of chemical, physical and biological
factors in different environments, there is a need for a unified regulation that takes
into account the complexity of the impact of these factors on the human body. The
simultaneous impact on the body of various chemicals coming from different
environments, in different combinations and modes, requires a scientifically
grounded determination of the real load of the entire complex of chemicals. The
real chemical load should be understood as the actual intensity of the effect on the
human body of the entire set of chemical factors acting through the air, drinking
water and food.
Since the units for measuring the content of chemical substances in different media
are different (mg / m3, mg / l, mg / kg, etc.), it is advisable to use relative values in
fractions of the MPC as a unit for measuring the real load. At the same time, the
real load is not a simple sum of the MAC fractions of substances in different
environments, but a new quality of the environment, which requires taking into
account the nature of the combined, complex and sequential action of substances,
as well as changes in the effectiveness of their action depending on the hazard
class of the substance.
Since the degree of exposure to a chemical substance (substances) depends
not only on its (their) concentration, but also on the duration of exposure, the
actual chemical load should be related to a certain time of its averaging (day,
month, year). Due to the fact that a person changes his place of residence in the
course of his activity, when determining the real chemical load, it is necessary to
take into account not only the level of pollution of a given object, but also the
duration of stay in specific conditions.

Hygienic principles for regulating ADI and EAF.

In food hygiene, the basic regulation is the permissible daily dose (ADI) of a
standardized chemical. The ADI of a chemical substance (CV) is the maximum
dose (in mg / kg of body weight), which, with daily oral intake with food
throughout a person's life, does not adversely affect the vital activity, health of the
present and future generations.
A similar regulation (DSD) is recommended for the intake of a chemical with
inhaled air (inhalation) and drinking water. If the ADI is multiplied by the average
body weight of an adult (70 kg) and a child (30 kg), you can determine the
permissible daily intake (ADI) of a chemical (in mg / day).
For many chemicals, toxicology studies are conducted in laboratory animals to
provide preliminary quantitative determinations for humans. For most substances,
the pathogenesis of poisoning in humans and other mammals is the same;
interspecies differences in response are mainly quantitative rather than qualitative
due to different rates of absorption, excretion and detoxification. A person may be
more sensitive to certain substances than laboratory animals; to others, animals
may be more sensitive.
To solve this problem, methods were developed that were based on the use of
"safety factors". For example, to obtain the admissible daily intake (ADI) for
humans, international food additive programs (FAO / WHO) and the establishment
of tolerance levels for pesticide residues in food usually divide the dose that does
not cause adverse effects in animals ( or a person, if there is such data), by a certain
amount of "stock" (100).
However, the use of safety factors (otherwise known as uncertainty factors) is most
often criticized on the grounds that the observed level of safety of exposure
depends on the size of the group of animals used.
The main objections to the use of safety factors are related to the assumption that
the threshold dose is actually lower than that at which there would be no adverse
effect. For example, the concentration of cyanides entering the body with food is
not exactly established or there is a small amount of them (almonds). However,
many of the foods we eat are cooked, and the process destroys most of the small
amounts of inorganic cyanides present in these foods. The intake of up to 4.7 mg
per day of cyanide is harmless to humans, and when using 2 liters of water per day
for drinking, their consumption with water will be at a concentration of 2.35 mg / l.
Taking into account the safety factor, the recommended value of 0.1 mg / l cyanide
will be considered sufficient to protect human health.
For toxic substances, the effect of which appears only after the threshold dose is
exceeded, the ADI values established earlier by the Joint Expert Committee
(FAO / WHO) on food additives can be used. If there are no such ADI, then the
ADI value must be calculated from the published data in the scientific literature, by
applying a "safety factor" (that is, the maximum inactive dose). However, it is
necessary to know what proportion of the particle board of a toxic substance for
humans should be attributed to atmospheric air, food or drinking water. So, for
such substances with a high ability to accumulate in the body, such as
organochlorine pesticides, the share of intake with drinking water is taken up to
1% of the particle board.
Where there is evidence of possible carcinogenicity of substances, FAO / WHO
has developed guidelines and ADIs for some pesticides. As a criterion, the
“acceptable” risk of developing cancer (1 in 100,000) with exposure throughout
life was arbitrarily adopted (Table 2).
Table 2
Recommended Values and ADI for Certain Pesticides

№ Compounds or groups of isomers Recommended Particleboard

Rat value (μg / l) (mg / kg body
e weight)
1 DDT (sum of isomers) 1 0,005
2 Aldrin and Dildrin 0,03 0,0001
3 Chlordane (sum of isomers) 0,3 0,001
4 hexachlorobenzene 0,01а) -
5 Heptachlor and heptachlorepoxide 0,1 0,0005
6 Gamma-HCH (lindane) 3,0 0,001
7 methoxychlor 30,0 0,1
8 2,04-D 100,0 0,3
a) Since the FAO / WHO conditional ADI of 0.0006 mg / kg bw has been
canceled, this recommended value was obtained using a linear multistep
extrapolation model for a cancer risk of less than 1 in 100,000 with lifelong
exposure.
A method for determining the real load of individual substances on the human
body.
Currently, a number of studies deserve attention, in which a fundamentally new
approach is being developed, which allows in an integral form to take into account
the total daily load of environmental chemicals on the human body. It is known
that some diseases are directly related to the concentration of trace elements in the
human body. For example, the activity of a number of enzymes increases even
under the influence of weak concentrations of metals such as Mo, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe,
and others. The lack of these microelements in the diet leads to a disruption in the
synthesis of those enzymes for the functioning of which they are necessary.
Most of the microelements, interacting with the proteins of the body, form
organometallic complexes with them. Thus, an increase in the ability to form stable
complexes in the series Ca2 +, Mg2 +, Mn2 +, Fe2 +, Ni2 +, Cu2 + increases the
ability of metals to be taken into account as specific catalysts of vital processes.
Thus, the intake of large amounts of cadmium into the body affects the exchange
of zinc, iron and copper, impairs the absorption of iron. High doses of zinc reduce
the toxicity of cadmium.
The intake of one or more toxic substances into the human body (lead, cadmium,
mercury, etc.) stimulates the development of cardiovascular diseases. For example,
such factors as a deficiency in the intake of iron, calcium and protein in the body
contributes to an increase in the rate of absorption of cadmium from the
gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, there is a possibility of adjusting some elements in
the body (calcium, magnesium, etc.). For example, for children at the expense of
food: for calcium - dairy products, magnesium - meat and especially vegetable.
The need for these measures is confirmed by their protective effect and a
significantly high correlation with the incidence of cardiovascular diseases.
Assessment of the real load on the body of harmful chemicals from food should be
carried out in parallel with studies of the state of actual nutrition of certain groups
of the population, in accordance with the methodology for determining the
subsistence minimum and the poverty line "structure of minimum consumer
baskets for various socio-demographic groups of the population" approved by the
Ministry labor of the RK.
The actual load of individual pollutants can be established based on the results of
analyzes of individual ration products with their subsequent recalculation for the
total content in the daily set of products, taking into account the influence of
cooking or on the basis of the results of analyzes of chemical pollutants directly in
the daily diet or by meals.
The assessment of the real daily load coming with the rations should be
carried out taking into account the group division of the population: CHILDREN -
up to 1 year, from 1 to 3 years, from 4 to 6 years, from 7 to 10 years, from 11 to 13
years (boys, girls ), from 14 to 17 years old (boys, girls); ADULT WORKING
POPULATION - 1 labor intensity group (men, women), II, III and IV labor
intensity groups (men, women); PERSONS OF THE ELDERLY AND OLD AGE
- 60-74 years (men, women); 75 years and older (men, women).
Among the priority chemical contaminants of food products, special
attention is required to those substances that, in real conditions, are capable of
acting on the body in a complex way due to their intake from various objects of the
environment. A number of metals are essential for the activity of the body, in
connection with which the optimal satisfaction of the physiological needs of the
body for them should be ensured. These are zinc, manganese, chromium, copper,
cobalt, molybdenum, selenium, iodine, fluorine.
The calculation of the real load is carried out according to the formula:
РН=  сi  mi  ki  (2)
М

where PN is the real load, mg / kg;

ci is the concentration of the studied pollutant in the original food
product, mg / kg;
mi is the mass of food consumed as part of the daily
diet, kg;
ki - coefficient of change in the concentration of a pollutant in food
product after culinary or technological processing (when
in the absence of experimental data, Ki = 1);
M is the average body weight of the studied population group, kg;
T is the duration of the RN assessment period, days.
When calculating and assessing the real daily load of chemicals, one should take
into account the actual concentration of substances in food (diet), group division of
the population (children, adults, gender, age), standard daily consumption of the
product, the proportion of intake and absorption of substances in the body.
Calculations of the real load of substances on the body can be made not only in
milligrams per kg of body weight, but also in mg / day. Similar calculations of RN
are determined for other media. For example, the actual concentration of a
substance in the air is multiplied by the daily requirement for air entering the lungs
(20m3) and taking into account the absorption capacity of the substance in the
lungs.
Calculations for the real load of substances supplied with drinking water are made
by multiplying the actual concentration of the substance in the water by the daily
water consumption, depending on age, body condition and climatic characteristics
(from 1 to 5 liters).
However, the methods for assessing the magnitude of the real chemical load
(RHN) on the body due to individual factors do not make it possible to assess RHN
by a complex of pollutants simultaneously coming from all media.
Therefore, one of the features in the assessment of RHN by harmful substances
coming from various environmental objects is the account of those specific
substances that are characteristic of food. The same substances should be taken
into account as additional (mainly in small doses) ingredients (in the total load)
from other media (water, air).
The total load (RN sum.) On the human body by a complex of chemicals supplied
with air, water and food is determined by the formula (3):

РН  = РН а.в + РН в.п. + РН п.п. (3)

Where РН  - is the total load (mg / day, mg / kg);

РН а.в. – load due to inhalation of atmospheric air (mg / day, mg / kg);
РН в.п. – load due to drinking water consumption (mg / day, mg / kg);
РН п.п. – Load due to food consumption (mg / day, mg / kg).