Human dietary exposure to chemicals in sub-Saharan Africa: safety assessment through a total diet study.

Background: Human dietary exposure to chemicals can result in a wide range of adverse health effects. Some substances might cause non-communicable diseases, including cancer and coronary heart diseases, and could be nephrotoxic. Food is the main human exposure route for many chemicals.

Sub-Saharan Africa total diet study in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria: Pesticides occurrence in foods.

In the framework of the first regional Total Diet Study in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3696 foodstuffs, commonly consumed in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria were purchased, prepared as consumed and pooled into 308 composite samples. Those core foods were tested for up to 470 pesticides residues by liquid and gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. 39 pesticides were detected with 294 total occurrences, including 47.