Concentrations of organophosphorus pesticides in rice (Oryza sativa) and human health risk assessment from Songhua River, Northeast China

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) concentrations in rice grains and estimate potential health risk to inhabitants. A total of 102 rice samples were collected from the Irrigated Area of Songhua River, located in Jilin province, one of the most important rice production areas and a key agricultural area in China. The twelve OPs were determined by gas chromatography coupled with flame photometric detector. Results showed that OPs concentrations in rice grains did not exceed maximum residue limit. The mean concentrations obtained for the detected twelve OPs in µg kg⁻¹ were as follows: omethoate (0.60), diazinon (0.56), parathion-methyl (0.54), dimethoate (0.38), isocarbophos (0.38), phorate (0.31), fenitrothion (0.24), parathion (0.23), fenthion (0.23), malathion (0.13), dichlorvos (0.13), and methamidophos (0.08). Diazinon (39.2%), omethoate (31.4%), and parathion-methyl (25.5%) had the highest frequency in the detected twelve OPs. 69.6% of samples contained more than one OP, 24.5% of samples detected one OP, and only 5.9% samples did not find any OPs. The average target hazard quotients were all less than one and average hazard index for adults and children were 0.273 and 0.238, respectively. Overall, results indicated that the intake of rice may be safe for consumers.

KEYWORDS:

• organophosphorus pesticides
• rice
• maximum residue limit (MRL)
• acceptable daily intake (ADI)
• target hazard quotient (THQ)

Funding

We are grateful for the grants from Knowledge Innovative Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-YW-N-077), “One-Three-Five” Strategic Planning Principles of Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171392), and Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (20140101003JC).