The Netherlands has invested heavily in the development of the probabilistic exposure tool Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA). RIVM and various other international institutes are using this tool to assess the exposure to chemical substances.
RIVM is involved in the EFSA activities around cumulative exposure to residues of pesticides. Cumulative exposure is the exposure to groups of chemicals known to affect the same human organ. As part of these activities, RIVM supports EFSA to develop a methodology to estimate cumulative exposure and to define groups of pesticides (Cumulative Assessment Groups) that affect the same human organ.
Input databases for risk assessment
RIVM is responsible for several Dutch databases that contain data for risk assessments. One of these databases is the Quality of Agricultural Products (KAP), which contains chemical concentrations of different chemicals in food and feed. Another database contains food consumption of the Dutch Food Consumption Survey.
The most recent survey is the one among persons living in the Netherlands aged 1 – 79 years of 2012-2016. RIVM coordinates and executes the Dutch Food Consumption Survey. See our topic Dutch National Food Composition Survey for more information.