Pesticide residues in leafy vegetables, stalk and stem vegetables from South Korea: a long-term study on safety and health risk assessment

Abstract

South Korea has a unique food culture. South Koreans enjoy wrapping meat and eating or making kimchi (traditionally fermented Korean food) and eating using raw leafy vegetables, stalk and stem vegetables. Therefore, there is a high chance of being exposed to pesticide residues of vegetables. The objective of this study was to investigate pesticide residues in leafy vegetables, stalk and stem vegetables from South Korea. A total of 8496 samples were mainly collected from Gwangju and Jeonnam area (the largest production region of leafy vegetables, stalk and stem vegetables) in South Korea from 2010 to 2014. A total of 230 pesticides were used for multi-residue analysis of pesticides. Among 8496 samples, 61 different pesticides (1029 times) were detected in 890 samples, of which 118 samples (1.4%) exceeded the Korea maximum residue limits (MRLs). Samples exceeding the MRLs were mostly found in leafy vegetables (brassica lee ssp. namai, leafy lettuce, spinach, perilla leaves, crown daisy, marsh mallow, aster scaber, pimpinella brachycarpa) and Chinese chive. Procymidone, dimethomorph and azoxystrobin were the most frequently found pesticides. A risk assessment of pesticides exceeding the MRLs was evaluated by calculating the estimated daily intake (EDI) and the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The ratio of EDI to ADI was 0.003-30.4%.

Analytical approach, dissipation pattern and risk assessment of pesticide residue in green leafy vegetables: A comprehensive review

“…The complexity in sample treatment corresponds with the existing matrix interferences and the use of separation techniques, most commonly gas chromatography (Al Mahmud et al, ; D'Antuono et al, ; Farina et al, ; González‐Rodríguez, Rial‐Otero, Cancho‐Grande, & Simal‐Gándara, ; Ikeura, Kobayashi, & Tamaki, ; Park et al, ; Rahman, Sharma, et al, ; Srivastava, Trivedi, Srivastava, Lohani, & Srivastava, ; Tanaka et al, ; Van Dyk, Bouwman, Barnhoorn, & Bornman, ; Walorczyk, ) or liquid chromatography (Farha, Rahman, Abd El‐Aty, Jung, et al, ; Farha, Rahman, Abd El‐Aty, Kim, et al, ; S. W. Kim, Abd El‐Aty, et al, ; S. W. Kim, Rahman, et al, ; Lehotay & Cook, ; Liu et al, ; Pan, Xia, & Liang, ; Park et al, , ; Rahman et al, ; Wołejko et al, ).…”

“…Pimpinella brachycarpa , Chinese chive, lettuce, Korean cabbage, spinach, perilla leaves, Aster scaber , winter‐grown cabbage, young radish and crown daisy). The use of fungicide is high in leafy vegetable cultivation in the Republic of Korea (Park et al, ). Thiamethoxam and clothianidin are neonicotinoid insecticides which are widely used for the persistent control of a broad range of immature stages of insect pests, including Diptera, Lepidoptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera and Hemiptera, with remarkable systemic action involving various processes (Uneme, ).…”

“…Washing does not completely remove pesticide residue from leafy vegetables. Therefore, consuming leafy vegetables raw with large amounts of pesticide residue is unsafe (Park et al, ). Park et al () studied 31 types of pesticides exceeding MRLs via exposure evaluation.…”

“…Therefore, consuming leafy vegetables raw with large amounts of pesticide residue is unsafe (Park et al, ). Park et al () studied 31 types of pesticides exceeding MRLs via exposure evaluation. Using the estimated daily intake (EDI) and ADI, a risk assessment was performed (Park et al, ).…”

“…Park et al () studied 31 types of pesticides exceeding MRLs via exposure evaluation. Using the estimated daily intake (EDI) and ADI, a risk assessment was performed (Park et al, ). The ADI is defined as the criterion for risk assessment depending on the chronic toxicity levels of the pesticide for humans (Jeong, Lim, & Cho, ).…”