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Effect of decocting on the pesticide residues in Paeoniae radix lactiflora and corresponding exposure risk assessment

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Abstract

Numerous natural preparations in traditional Chinese medicine are prepared as decoctions. Processing factors (PFs) comparing the levels of pesticide residues in decoctions to those in the corresponding unprocessed products should be considered in exposure assessments. Thus, this study determined the residue levels of six pesticides (chlorpyrifos, phoxim, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, fenpropathrin, and emamectin benzoate), as well as 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol, the primary metabolite of chlorpyrifos, and clothianidin, the main metabolite of thiamethoxam in Baishao, Paeoniae radix lactiflora (Fam. Ranunculaceae). The results showed that significant time-response effects were present for the release of pesticides from P. radix. The PFs calculated were < 1, indicating a significant reduction in pesticide residues after TCM processing. The water solubility and partition coefficient values of the pesticides may have played a basic role in the dissipation of the residues during the TCM decocting process. A risk assessment based on the hazard quotient with PFs revealed that exposure to pesticide residues in P. radix was far below the levels that might pose a health risk. In conclusion, the results presented here are of theoretical and practical value for the safety evaluation of TCMs.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31772201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Plant Protection, Anhui Agricultural University, 130 Changjiangxilu, Hefei, Anhui Province, 230036, People’s Republic of China

    Jinjing Xiao, Jinjuan Ma, Fan Wang, Min Liao & Haiqun Cao

  2. Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management on Crops, Hefei, China

    Jinjing Xiao, Xing Xu, Min Liao, Yanhong Shi & Haiqun Cao

Authors
  1. Jinjing Xiao
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  2. Jinjuan Ma
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  3. Fan Wang
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  4. Xing Xu
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  5. Min Liao
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  6. Yanhong Shi
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  7. Haiqun Cao
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Contributions

Haiqun Cao, Jinjing Xiao, and Yanhong Shi designed the experiments; Jinjing Xiao, Jinjuan Ma, Fan Wang, and Xing Xu carried out the experiments; Jinjing Xiao analyzed the experimental data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Haiqun Cao.

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Responsible Editor: Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim

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Xiao, J., Ma, J., Wang, F. et al. Effect of decocting on the pesticide residues in Paeoniae radix lactiflora and corresponding exposure risk assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 16655–16662 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11945-z

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