Maximum Residue Limit (MRL)

A commodity that is in accordance with the European legislation is seen as safe for the health of the consumer. Eventual residues are in that case below the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL).

In case the MRL has been exceeded, it is important to verify whether there is problem for the health of the consumer.

Primoris supports you in the risk analysis after a positive finding of the residue limits. By using the ARfD information (see below) and tools of the Belgian federal food agency, we can analyze if there could be a risk for the public health involved.

The Belgian federal food agency has an online tool at disposal to execute the risk analysis yourself. To use this tool, click on the link "Berekening PSTI - Risicoevaluatie voor de consument bij overschrijding van de maximale residulimiet voor pesticiden (MRL)" on this webpage of the Belgian federal food agency.

Acute Reference Dose (ARfD)

The ARfD is defined as "an estimate of the amount of a substance in food or drinking water, normally expressed on a bodyweight basis, which can be ingested in a period of 24h or less without appreciable health risks to the consumer on the basis of all known facts at the time of the evaluation"

Why the concept of ARfD?

The assessment of pesticides revealed that one-time consumption of certain crops (one serving) with relatively high residues could lead, in certain cases, to acute problems. In order to be able to correctly assess the health risk, the concept ARfD was set up. This concept was added to the evaluation of effects of contaminants. Previously, evaluation was only done on chronic effects and was mainly focussed on the lengthy and average consumption of contaminants.