Evaluation of pesticide residues in some commonly consumed vegetables in Egypt and their related chronic exposure

Abdelkader, Ahmed Ismail; Ayoub, Mohsen Mohamed; Mohammed, Ali Saad

doi:10.21608/ajbas.2020.43968.1035

Evaluation of pesticide residues in some commonly consumed vegetables in Egypt and their related chronic exposure

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Egypt

² Researcher Professor, Central Lab. of Residue Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Foods (QCAP), Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation

³ Head of pesticide residues section, Central Food Laboratories, Ministry of Public Health, Doha, Qatar

10.21608/ajbas.2020.43968.1035

Abstract

A multi-residue quantitative method in combination with liquid and gas chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry, was employed to monitor 281 pesticide residus in the most consumed vegetables at the wholesale markets in Egypt during 2018. Among 506 samples analyzed, 66 different pesticide residues were detected in 405 samples (80%) whereas, 260 samples (51%) contaminated with levels lower than maximum residue limits and 145 samples (29%) were violated. The highest violation was observed at (60%, 58%, 46% and 33%) in parsley followed by pepper, beans and coriander, respectively. Chlorpyrifos, profenofos malathion, lambda-cyhalothrin and metalaxyl were the most frequently detected pesticides. Data Monitored was used for estimating the potential health risks associated with the exposures to the detected pesticides. The highest hazard index was found in tomato for emmactin benzoate (10%) against the acceptable daily intake value for adults. Tomato was the most contributing commodity to the chronic exposure representing 56% to the total risk. The values of cumulative exposure for carbamates, heterocyclic, organophosphorus, pyrethroids, and other groups were calculated and found to be < 1 (0.006-0.256), indicating no risk to consumers due to the exposure to pesticide residues in Egyptian-fresh vegetables. The results showed that despite the high presence of pesticide residues in some vegetables, they did not pose any health risks to consumers

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