RESIDUOS DE PLAGUICIDAS EN TOMATE (Solanum lycopersicum) COMERCIALIZADO EN ARMENIA, COLOMBIA

Background: Tomato variety “chonto” (Solanum lycopersicum) is a common ingredient in Colombian cuisine. This fruit is commonly attacked for pests that generates losses higher than 30 %. The profuse crop dusting produces a risk for the consumers, for that reason The Colombian Agriculture Institute (ICA) limit the use of agrochemicals. However, the marketed tomato contains traces of endosulfán and 4,4’-DDT that are regulated and prohibited in many countries, including Colombia. Tomato quality is stablished according to the Codex Alimentarius recommendations for pesticides, which studies require sensible, selective and probed methods of analysis. Objectives: To report about the estimated average daily intake (EADI) for pesticides residues in the region. In the present work the QuEChERS methodology was modified and validated, based on the EN15662 procedure for the analysis of the organochlorines and organophosphorus pesticides residues in tomato. Methods: The procedure EN15662 was implemented and validated by means of analytical figures of merit from the calibration curve, accuracy analysis and the Youden-Steiner robustness test, for the simultaneous analysis of organochlorines and organophosphorus pesticides using gas chromatography with micro electron capture detector (GC-μECD) in commercialized tomato samples from an organic store Fruver (marketing of vegetables, fresh fruit and vegetables) and 14 grocery stores, for a total of 16 sample points in Armenia. The EADI was estimated for pesticides residues found. Results: A total of 26 residues of pesticides, 20 organochlorines and 6 organophosphorus were analyzed. In mean level of concentration of the calibration curves, recovery was in the range from 82% ± 5 to 136% ± 15 to 17 organochlorines, and in the range from 64% ± 9 to 96% ± 15 to 5 organophosphorus. Other pesticide residues were outside this range of recovery. Detection limits between 0,5 and 257 μg/L and quantification limits between 1,4 and 779 μg/L for aldrin and diazinon, respectively. Conclusions: The methodology used in our studies proves its robustness for the analysis of pesticides. 4,4’-DDT, endosulfán y metoxicloro were found in the majority of samples analyzed, although they are prohibited in Colombia.