Determination of pesticide residues and risk assessment in some vegetables grown in Tokat province

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the pesticide residue levels and health risk assessments in tomato, pepper, and cucumber grown in Tokat province of Turkey. A residue analytical method was verified to determine 260 pesticides by using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Pesticide solutions at 10 and 50 µg kg­¹ doses were fortified with the pesticide-free cucumber matrix for verification of the method. The linearities (R2), the limit of detection (LODs), the limit of quantification (LOQs), and mean recovery values of the pesticides ranged between 0.990-0.999, 0.71-2.96 μg kg­¹, 2.36-9.86 μg kg­¹ and 77.25-117.61%, respectively. Pesticide residue levels of 28 vegetable samples collected from Tokat province were determined using the verified method. Seventeen different pesticides were detected in 16 samples, and pesticide concentrations in 3 samples were higher than the allowable limits of the European Union Maximum Residue Limits (EU-MRL). The pyridaben level in 1 pepper sample, metrafenone in 2 cucumber samples were higher than the threshold values stated by the EU-MRL. The results of health risk assessments indicated that these pesticides have chronic toxicity potential for consumers.