The pesticide residue status in fruits and fashionable smoothies in the context of acute exposure and cumulative health risk

Abstract

Fruits and fashionable smoothies are the basis of a healthy diet and are consumed worldwide. Due to the various agricultural practices in global fruit cultivation, pesticides can sometimes pose a threat. The novelty of this work was the presentation of the pesticide distribution picture in 440 fruit and 350 smoothie samples produced in 19 different countries available to consumers in Polish hypermarkets. Moreover, an interesting legal analysis of the status of detected pesticides in the context of European legislation was conducted. An essential element of the research was assessing the cumulative risk for two groups of high–risk pesticides: endocrine and developmental disruptors for children and adults. The investigation of pesticides was carried out using highly advanced LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS techniques. Pesticides were detected in a significant number of fruits (400 samples) and smoothies (329 samples). The grape sample contained up to 18 residues, reaching a total concentration of 6.52 mg kg⁻¹. Generally, the levels of detected residues were several times higher in fruits than in smoothies. EU MRL standards were exceeded in 4.5 % of samples, extreme of 420 % chlorpyrifos/oranges. Alarmingly, about 30 % of fruit samples and 17 % of smoothies were found to contain not approved pesticides in Europe. Acute health risk was the highest for tebuconazole/grapefruits/children (785 % ARfD) and imazalil/oranges/adults (375 % ARfD). The cumulative acute health risk was determined for endocrine and reproductive disruptors with a hazard index of up to 13. Fruits with multiple residues are a serious public health problem due to cumulative health risk, especially for children.