Investigation of pesticide residues in peach and nectarine sampled from Çanakkale, Turkey, and consumer dietary risk assessment

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate pesticide residues on peach and nectarine. For method verification, samples were spiked at 0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 times of maximum residue limit (MRL) for each pesticide. The Quick-Easy-Cheap-Efficient-Rugged-Safe (QuEChERS)-liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry detection revealed that limit of quantifications (LOQs) of pesticides were below the MRL. The overall recovery was 113.51% with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 17.33% for peach and 113.61% with RSD of 11.44% for nectarine. These figures were within the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (SANTE) recovery limits (60-140%) and the values specified for the repeatability (RSD <= 20%). Samples were collected from 5 different stands at canakkale open markets for 12 weeks. None of the residues was not >= MRL in any samples. Maximum levels of 567.80 and 322.10 mu g/kg boscalid were detected in peach and nectarine, respectively, corresponding approximately 1/10 and 1/15 of the MRL. Maximum levels for tebuconazole were about 1/12 and 1/10 of the MRL for peach (47.53 mu g/kg) and nectarine (56.90 mu g/kg), respectively. Chlorpyrifos residues of all samples were below LOQ. According to our findings and the World Health Organisation Guideline, chronic exposure levels of pesticides were low and there is no risk to human health in terms of 3 pesticides.