Pesticide Residues and Health Risk Assessment in Tomatoes and Lettuces from Farms of Metropolitan Region Chile

Abstract

Over the last years, the detection of pesticide residues in the official food surveillance programs of Chile has been increased, mainly in fresh vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuces. The Metropolitana Region of Chile presents the highest detections in the country. The lack of evaluations of toxicological risks in human health have increased uncertainty of the potential effects of pesticides exposures in the Chilean population. This research aims to determinate health risks assessment of pesticide residues associated to tomatoes and lettuces produced in Metropolitana Region. The findings of this study reveal that tomatoes and lettuces cultivated in the MR show more than 50% of samples with one or multiple pesticides residues. From the total samples, 16% were over the Chilean Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). The main pesticides detected in tomatoes and lettuces were methamidophos, methomyl, difenoconazole, cyprodinil and boscalid. The results obtained using the official data of the Ministry of Health of Chile (MINSAL) compared to the World Health Organization (WHO), describe relevant risks through the Estimated Daily Intakes (EDI), Hazard Quotients (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) for the Chilean population due to high concentrations of methamidophos, methomyl and cyprodinil. More restrictions for the use of methamidophos, methomyl, difenoconazole, cyprodinil and boscalid and effective control programs should be implemented in order to mitigate the impacts on the Chilean population.

Analysis of Multi-Pesticide Residues and Dietary Risk Assessment in Fresh Tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) from Local Supermarkets of the Metropolitan Region, Chile

“…Each sample size consisted of 2 kg of fresh tomatoes wrapped in aluminium foil. The samples were processed using a grinder, and then stored in a flask and frozen at −20 °C, according to the protocol previously described elsewhere [ 22 ].…”

“…Analytical grade pesticides standards (over 99% purity) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Saint Louis, MO, USA), HPLC (Cunnersdorf, Deutschland), and Chem Service (West Chester, PA, USA). Solvents and chemicals were obtained from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) [ 22 ]. QuEChERS extraction systems were purchased from UCT (Bristol, PA, USA).…”

“…This regulation defines the maximum levels of pesticide residues that can be present in food, in accordance with the principles established by the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) [ 21 ]. The use of pesticides with a reasonable certainty of no harm, the pesticide doses administered, and the concentration of pesticide residues which remain in food, as well as laws approved by the government are supervised by SAG [ 22 ]. In 2019, a new regulation regarding pesticides containing methamidophos, carbofuran, and azinphos-methyl was legally implemented, enforcing their removal from the Chilean market by June 2021 [ 23 ].…”

Effect of Vegetable Commercialization on Food Safety

“…De Silva et al (2010) add that these pesticides are also toxic to pollinators such as bees and have been associated with reduced bee populations. Statistics on residual levels of mancozeb in Kenya are still limited but grey studies from elsewhere such as Chile (Elgueta et al, 2020) and Uganda (Atuhaire et al, 2017;Kaye et al, 2015) have shown residue levels to be as much as seven times the prescribed levels. Sadly, mancozeb is a known carcinogen in rats and can cause Parkinsons' disease in humans (Ibid).…”

Dynamics of the Degradation of Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase Herbicides in Vegetables

“…This is not to say that residues are never detected in these vegetables. Elgueta et al [ 22 ] and Skovgaard et al [ 23 ] detected pesticide residues in 50% of lettuce samples with 16–20% of samples above the MRL. Santareli et al [ 24 ] also detected many lettuce samples over the MRL in Italy.…”