Abstract
In this work, pesticide residues in 493 fruit and vegetable samples obtained from markets in Turkey were detected after QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with electron spray ionization (LC-ESI/MS/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS). Validation of the method was tested based on the European Union SANTE/12682/2019 guidelines. The samples were analyzed to determine the concentrations of 500 pesticide residues. The results indicated that 254 samples of 493 samples contaminated with pesticides, only 22% contained pesticide residues at or below maximum residue limits (MRLs), and 30% contained pesticide residues above MRLs. Chlorpyrifos was the most common pesticide (105 samples) from the detected pesticides; 49 samples were found above to MRLs with concentrations of 0.011–2.001 mg/kg. Among samples, peach (88%), dill (84%), mushroom (83%), arugula (73%), and spinach (72%) were the crops with the higher percentages of pesticide residues.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Not applicable.
References
Angioni A, Dedola F, Garau A, Sarais G, Cabras P, Caboni P (2011) Chlorpyrifos residues levels in fruits and vegetables after field treatment. J Environ Sci Health B 46(6):544–549
Anonymous (2016) Türk Gıda Kodeksi Pestisitlerin Maksimum KalıntıLimitleri Yönetmeliği. TC Resmi Gazete, 29899, Kasım 25, 2016.
Bakırcı GT, Acay DBY, Bakırcı F, Ötleş S (2014) Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from the Aegean region, Turkey. Food Chem 160:379–392
Chung SW (2018) How effective are common household preparations on removing pesticide residues from fruit and vegetables? A review. J Sci Food Agric 98(8):2857–2870
Daraghmeh A, Shraim A, Abulhaj S, Sansour R, Ng JC (2007) Imidacloprid residues in fruits, vegetables and water samples from Palestine. Environ Geochem Health 29(1):45–50
Donkor A, Osei-Fosu P, Dubey B, Kingsford-Adaboh R, Ziwu C, Asante I (2016) Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables in Ghana: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23(19):18966–18987
Eissa FI, Helalia AA, Khorshed MA, El-Sisi MA (2013) Monitoring of multi-class pesticide residues in green grape and their potential risk for Egyptian consumer. Nat Sci 11(11):110–115
El SA, Eweis EA, Ibrahim NM (2018) Monitoring and risk exposure studies on some pesticide residues detected in some leafy vegetables in Egypt. Middle East J 7(2):600–617
Erler F, Polat E, Demir H, Catal M, Tuna G (2011) Control of mushroom sciarid fly Lycoriella ingenua populations with insect growth regulators applied by soil drench. J Econ Entomol 104(3):839–844
Foong SY, Ma NL, Lam SS, Peng W, Low F, Lee BH et al (2020) A recent global review of hazardous chlorpyrifos pesticide in fruit and vegetables: prevalence, remediation and actions needed. J Hazard Mater 400:123006
Golge O, Koluman A, Kabak B (2018) Validation of a modified QuEChERS method for the determination of 167 pesticides in milk and milk products by LC-MS/MS. Food Anal Methods 11(4):1122–1148
Hu Y, Chiu YH, Hauser R, Chavarro J, Sun Q (2016) Overall and class-specific scores of pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables as a tool to rank intake of pesticide residues in United States: a validation study. Environ Int 92:294–300
Huang Y, Luo X, Tang L, Yu W (2020) The power of habit: does production experience lead to pesticide overuse? Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:25287–25296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08961-4
Jensen BH, Andersen JH, Petersen A, Christensen T (2008) Dietary exposure assessment of Danish consumers to dithiocarbamate residues in food: a comparison of the deterministic and probabilistic approach. Food Addit Contam 25(6):714–721
Kim L, Lee D, Cho HK, Choi SD (2019) Review of the QuEChERS method for the analysis of organic pollutants: persistent organic pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pharmaceuticals. Trends Environ Anal Chem 22:e00063
Lu MX, Jiang WW, Wang JL, Jian Q, Shen Y, Liu XJ, Yu XY (2014) Persistence and dissipation of chlorpyrifos in Brassica chinensis, lettuce, celery, asparagus lettuce, eggplant, and pepper in a greenhouse. PLoS One 9(6):e100556
Mac Loughlin TM, Peluso ML, Etchegoyen MA, Alonso LL, de Castro MC, Percudani MC, Marino DJ (2018) Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables of the argentine domestic market: occurrence and quality. Food Control 93:129–138
Mebdoua S, Lazali M, Ounane SM, Tellah S, Nabi F, Ounane G (2017) Evaluation of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from Algeria. Food Addit Contam Part B Surveill 10(2):91–98
Mojsak P, Łozowicka B, Kaczyński P (2018) Estimating acute and chronic exposure of children and adults to chlorpyrifos in fruit and vegetables based on the new, lower toxicology data. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 159:182–189
Mukhtar M, Sherwani A, Wani AA, Ahmed SB, Sofi JA, Bano P (2015) Degradation of chlorpyrifos residues in apple under temperate conditions of Kashmir Valley. Environ Monit Assess 187(8):1–6
Nowacka, A., & Hołodyńska-Kulas, A. (2020). Pesticide residues in agricultural crops (2016-2017). Progress in Plant Protection, 60(3).
Qin G, Chen Y, He F, Yang B, Zou K, Shen N, Zuo B, Liu R, Zhang W, Li Y (2021) Risk assessment of fungicide pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits in the mid-western region of China. J Food Compos Anal 95:103663
Philippe V, Neveen A, Marwa A, Basel AYA (2021) Occurrence of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables for the Eastern Mediterranean Region and potential impact on public health. Food Control 119:107457
Santana-Mayor Á, Socas-Rodríguez B, Herrera-Herrera AV, Rodríguez-Delgado MÁ (2019) Current trends in QuEChERS method. A versatile procedure for food, environmental and biological analysis. TrAC Trends Anal Chem 116:214–235
SANTE/12682/2019 (2020) Method validation and quality control procedures for pesticide residues analysis in food and feed
Sapbamrer R, Hongsibsong S (2014) Organophosphorus pesticide residues in vegetables from farms, markets, and a supermarket around Kwan Phayao Lake of Northern Thailand. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 67(1):60–67
Shashirekha MN, Mallikarjuna SE, Rajarathnam S (2015) Status of bioactive compounds in foods, with focus on fruits and vegetables. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 55(10):1324–1339
Soydan, D. K., Turgut, N., Yalçın, M., Turgut, C., & Karakuş, P. B. K. (2021). Evaluation of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables from the Aegean region of Turkey and assessment of risk to consumers. Environ Sci Pollut Res, 1-9.
Talan A, Mishra A, Eremin SA, Narang J, Kumar A, Gandhi S (2018) Ultrasensitive electrochemical immuno-sensing platform based on gold nanoparticles triggering chlorpyrifos detection in fruits and vegetables. Biosens Bioelectron 105:14–21
Tzatzarakis M, Kokkinakis M, Renieri E, Goumenou M, Kavvalakis M, Vakonaki E, Chatzinikolaou A, Stivaktakis P, Tsakiris I, Rizos A, Tsatsakis A (2020) Multiresidue analysis of insecticides and fungicides in apples from the Greek market. Applying an alternative approach for risk assessment. Food Chem Toxicol 140:111262
Van Dyk JS, Pletschke B (2011) Review on the use of enzymes for the detection of organochlorine, organophosphate and carbamate pesticides in the environment. Chemosphere 82(3):291–307
Yadav IC, Devi NL (2017) Pesticides classification and its impact on human and environment. Environ Sci Eng 6:140–158
Zacharia, J. T. (2011). Identity, physical and chemical properties of pesticides. Pesticides in the modern world-trends in pesticides analysis, 1-18.
Zhang W, Jiang F, Ou J (2011) Global pesticide consumption and pollution: with China as a focus. Proc Int Acad Ecol Environ Sci 1(2):125
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
İ. Toptanci and M. Kiralan performed the analysis and written the article. M. F. Ramadan wrote, reviewed, and edited the article.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Ester Heath
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
ESM 1
(DOCX 264 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Toptanci, İ., Kiralan, M. & Ramadan, M.F. Levels of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables in the Turkish domestic markets. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 39451–39457 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13538-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13538-w