Monitoring and accumulative risk assessment of pesticide residues detected in the common vegetables grown in the Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt

Abstract

The present study proposed to monitor the pesticide residues in most vegetables grown in the Eastern Nile Delta region, Egypt, and evaluate the potential health risk associated with them. Using multi-analysis methods, twenty-five pesticide residues were found. Pesticide residues were found in 88.37% of examined samples, with 31.4% above maximum residue limits. Overall, 66.23% of contaminated samples contain more than one pesticide, while three samples (1.2%) contain residues of 6 compounds. Residues of 25 chemicals were found in tested samples, with chlorpyrifos being the most common at 25.6%. According to the WHO toxicity classification (WHO, 2019), 36% of detected compounds were moderately hazardous (class II) and 24% slightly hazardous (class III). The health index values were less than 100%, indicating that there was an acceptable safety risk for exposure to the individual pesticide. However, the combined risk index revealed an unacceptable risk to individuals more than the individual health index because the pesticide toxicity index values were greater than 1.0 in some vegetables. There is a critical need to monitor and control the pesticide residues in vegetables to standardize the pesticide amount used and reduce their misuse.