Pesticide residue levels in strawberries and human health risk assessment

Abstract

Pesticides have been a primary tool in pest management worldwide. However, pesticide contamination is a major food safety risk in the fresh food supply chain. This study aims to monitor 240 pesticide residues in 245 strawberry samples and assess the health risk for Turkish adult and child consumer groups. Over three consecutive harvest years (2021–2023), strawberries were collected from farmers in the Aydın region of Turkey and analysed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Out of the 245 strawberry samples analysed, 61.6 % contained 32 different pesticides (17 fungicides and 15 insecticides), five of which were non-approved. Additionally, 6.5 % of the strawberry samples exceeded the European Union Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). Multiple residues were recorded in 42.9 % of strawberry samples. Pyrimethanil was the most commonly identified pesticide (30.2 %), followed by boscalid (27.4 %), fluopyram (17.1 %), and bifenazate (15.1 %). In the worst-case scenario, cumulative exposure to pesticides through strawberry consumption was determined to be 6.5 × 10⁻⁵ mg kg⁻¹ b.w. day⁻¹ for adults and 2.0 × 10⁻⁴ mg kg⁻¹ b.w. day⁻¹ for children. The hazard index (HI) values, under the worst-case scenario, were calculated to be 0.32 % for adults and 0.97 % for children. These results indicate that there is no cause for concern regarding cumulative exposure to residues through strawberry consumption for the Turkish population.