Pesticide residues in pistachio nut: a human risk assessment study

ABSTRACT

Pesticides are major chemical substances found in agricultural crops able to induce adverse health effects at very low concentrations. Pistachio is one of the important horticulture products which is exposed to multiple pesticide residues in developing countries such as Iran. In this study the pesticide residues were determined in 40 samples of pistachio collectedfromDamghan (one of the leading pistachio producing zones in Iran). A total of 11 individual pesticide residues belonging to four chemical groups including organophosphates, organochlorines, pyrethroids, and nicotinoids were quantified using Liquid-Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Gas-Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Dietary risk assessment of pesticides residues was assessed regarding general population and children. Based on the results, the total means of each determined pesticide were above the limit of quantification in 71.4% of them and in 14.2% were above the maximum residue limit (MRL) set by European Union in monitored samples. Two types of nicotinoids including imidacloprid (0.1359 mg/kg) and acetamiprid (0.3448 mg/kg) exceeded the MRL. The 95th percentile of hazard quotient (HQ) in children and adults due to ingestion of imidacloprid and acetamiprid in pistachio nut was calculated as 9.43E-4, 2.04E-4 and 1.95E-3, 4.1e-4, respectively. The risk assessment according to Monte Carlo approach indicated that consumers are not at considerable non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks via pistachio consumption (HI and THQ < 1 value).

KEYWORDS:

• Chromatography
• gas liquid mass spectrometry
• pesticide residues
• pistachio
• risk assessment

Acknowledgments

The authors greatly thank Semnan University of Medical Sciences for financial and laboratory support (grant number 1201).

Ethics approval

The study project had approved by the research ethics committee of Semnan University of Medical Sciences (approval ID: IR.SEMUMS.REC.1395.231).

Disclosure statement

All authors have declared that they don’t have any conflict of interest for publishing this research.