Dietary intake of pesticide residues in some Egyptian fruits.
Alla S. A. G., Ayoub M. M., Amer M. A., Thabet W. M.
Author Affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Center, Central Laboratory of Residue Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Food, Dokki, Egypt.
Journal of Applied Sciences Research 9 : 965-973
Abstract : A total of 147 domestic samples of thirteen fruits (apple, apricot, banana, cantaloupe, dates, grape, guava, mango, orange, peach, pear, plum and strawberry) were collected from different local markets representing five Egyptian Governorates throughout 2007. All samples were examined for residues of 86 pesticides, including organophosphorus, organonitrogen, organohalogen and certain pyrethroids. Pesticide residues were determined by gas chromatography using a multiresidue method. The compliance of the detected residues with Residue Limits (MRL) and their probable health risks to consumers were evaluated. Of the analysed samples, 53% contained detectable residues whereas 47% had no detectable amounts. The most frequent detected pesticides group was pyrethroids which detected in 58.8% of contaminated samples followed by organophosphorous (29.4%) and organochlorine (only dicofol) (5.9%). Risk assessments were also performed by calculating Estimated Average Daily Intake (EADI) comparing the figures with acceptable daily intake (ADI). The obtained data showed that consumer's exposure to pesticides do not exceeded the ADI in any of the reported cases and the intakes of the evaluated pesticides were under 20% of the Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADIs). An acute dietary exposure assessment was also performed based on the monitoring results. The intake for each pesticide was compared to an acute reference dose (ARfD). The values of estimated short-term intake (ESTI) as a percentage of ARfD ranged from 0.00 up to 14% indicating a minimum acute risk from the detected pesticides. No health hazard was found associated with the consumption of the studied fruits for adults even with high violation and contamination percentages.