Determination and health risk assessment of carbamate pesticide residues in date palm fruits (Phoenix dactylifera) using QuEChERS method and UHPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate carbamate pesticide residues in different varieties of date palm fruits in the UAE, utilizing UHPLC-MS/MS. For sample preparation and clean-up, the efficiency and performance of different QuEChERS dispersive solid-phase extraction kits were compared. Precision and recovery were assessed at 10 μg kg−1 for the three kits, revealing that Kit 2 demonstrated the best performance. The selected QuEChERS method was validated to detect 14 carbamate residues in 55 date samples. The method exhibited strong linearity with R2 > 0.999 and low LOD (0.01–0.005 μg kg−1) and LOQ (0.003–0.04 μg kg−1). Excellent accuracy (recovery: 88–106%) and precision (RSD: 1–11%) were observed, with negligible matrix effect (− 4.98–13.26%). All samples contained at least one carbamate residue. While most detected residues were below their MRLs, carbosulfan was found in 21 samples, propoxur in 2 samples, and carbofuran in 1 sample above their MRLs. The hazard index (HI) was calculated for carbosulfan, phenmedipham, carbaryl, propoxur, carbofuran, and methomyl to assess potential health risks for date consumers. All HI values were below the safety limit of 1.0, indicating that the consumption of dates does not pose a non-carcinogenic health risk for adults and children.