Terminal residue of fungicides in agro-products from north China: Assessment of human exposure potential

Abstract

The excessive and unreasonable use of fungicides can inevitably lead to increased residues in food and ultimately cause harm to human health. To detect the residues of 8 fungicides in agro-products from 2018 to 2021 in Hebei province China, the method with modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) by Ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed. The analytical methods were validated with respect to matrix effect, recovery, calibration curves, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). With the developed method, 78 samples collected from 13 vegetable categories were analyzed. The number of samples analyzed at concentrations above the LOQ (1.13 μg/kg to 7.70 μg/kg) was ranging from 5 to 18. The detection rate of metalaxyl, mepanipyrim and triazolone are the lowest among the tested fungicides, and the tebuconazole is the highest. In all 13 vegetable categories, the largest types of fungicides were detected in celery samples. The risk quotient (RQ) of difenoconazole was the highest and the RQ of dimethomorph was the lowest. The RQs of fungicide in vegetables were all less than 100 %. In this study, we have revealed that the residues of eight fungicides shown a low risk to human health.