Pesticide residues in Junca Onion (Allium fistulosum) cultivated in Risaralda, Colombia

Abstract

By 2050, the world population will reach 9.2 billion, increasing the food demand by twice. Lowering loss due to pests is still challenging, where pesticides play an important role, but its indiscriminate use causes inadequate residual amounts to be present in foods. This study aims to monitor the organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticide residuality in Allium fistulosum cultivated in Risaralda, Colombia using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This method presented a highly sensitive (LOD: 0.11-7.15 µg kg-1), acceptable precision (RSD: 0.83-1.35%) and recoveries percentages between 46.32% - 118.67%. A greater presence of organochlorine pesticides banned or severely restricted by the Rotterdam agreement, such as 4,4'-DDT, was reported in samples of Allium fistulosum, with concentrations up to 221.22 ?g kg-1, while endrin with a concentration of 469.23 ?g kg-1 and its degradation products which exceed the maximum residue limite (MRL) for plant samples, reported by the Codex Alimentarius. According to this MRL, it was found that 73.1% of the samples have residual exceeding the allowed limit of organochlorine pesticides by more than forty times, posing a risk to human health and the ecosystem. Continuous monitoring and strict governmental control are required to reduce the exposure of humans and other living beings.