Determination of chlorpyrifos-methyl, lambda-cyhalothrin and tebuconazole residues in Sultana seedless grapes sprayed with pesticides under farmer’s conditions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate pesticide residues on Sultana Seedless Grapes harvested at different times and consequently evaluate the risk. Analyses were performed with the Quick-Easy-Cheap-Efficient-Rugged-Safe (QuEChERS)-liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) procedure. Pesticide-free grapes were spiked at 3 levels. Chlorpyrifos-methyl, lambda-cyhalothrin and tebuconazole detection limits were 20, 10 and 1 µg kg⁻¹, respectively. These values were below maximum residue levels (MRL) of 1000, 80 and 500 µg kg⁻¹, respectively. The overall recovery of the method was 108.60%. Present values were within acceptable recovery (60–140%) and repeatability (≤20%) ranges set by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (SANTE). The vineyards were sprayed 4 times. Grapes were harvested in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 14th days from the last spray. The residues in the samples taken from 5 vine stock groups were determined. MRL-exceeding chlorpyrifos-methyl residue of 1140.09 µg kg⁻¹ was detected in the 1st day. The MRL-exceeding lambda-cyhalothrin (381.15 and 307.39 µg kg⁻¹) and tebuconazole residues (650.58 and 570.85 µg kg⁻¹) were detected in the 1st and 3rd days, respectively. The residues of 7th and 14th day samples were significantly different from the others. Excessive pesticide concentrations did not pose any health risks on consumers.

Keywords:

• Grape
• QuEChERS
• pesticide residue
• pre-harvest interval
• risk assessment

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Scientific Research Projects Department of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University within the scope of a Thesis Project conducted by Ayşegül Duman (Project Number: FYL-2020-3359). The authors would like thank technical staff of Çanakkale Food Control Directorate–Pesticide Residue Laboratory for LC-MS/MS analyses. The authors are also grateful to Prof. Dr. Zeki Gökalp (Certified English Translator) for his critical reading and through syntactic corrections of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, (initials). The data are not publicly available due to restrictions (e.g., their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants).

Additional information

Funding

Scientific Research Projects Department, Canakkale Ondekiz Mart University;