Pesticide residues in table grapes and exposure assessment

Abstract

This report describes levels of 172 pesticide residues in table grapes in Turkey. A total of 280 samples of table grapes were collected from supermarkets, bazaar, and greengrocer shops located in four provinces of Turkey from August to October 2016. The samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The limit of quantification ranged from 0.002 to 0.010 mg kg(-1). The validation data revealed good recoveries and good repeatability and reproducibility and fulfilled the other requirements of the European SANTE/11945/2015 Guideline. One or more pesticide residues were detected in 59.6% of the table grapes. The residues above the EU maximum residue levels were 20.4% of the samples. The most prevalent pesticide residues were azoxystrobin, chlorpyrifos, boscalid, and cyprodinil. Left-censored results (40.4% of the results) were substituted by lower bound, middle bound, and upper bound values. In the worst-case scenario, the hazard index (HI) was 3.37% for adults and 9.42% for children. Chiorpyrifos was the major contributor (65%) to HI.