Pesticide Multiresidue Analysis in Tomato and Cucumber Samples Collected from Fruit and Vegetable Markets in Tehran, Iran

Background: The organophosphorus pesticides are still applied in some developing countries including most regions of Iran. It is important to make sure that the level of pesticide residues at the time of harvesting vegetable crops (e.g. tomato and cucumber) is assessed in order to control that their levels are within the permissible limit in the domestic as well as overseas markets; and most importantly the governments should ban the application of such compounds. Regarding the increasing consumption of pesticides in agriculture, the current study aimed at determining the amount of pesticide residues in crops such as tomatoe and cucumber to ensure that Codex maximum residue limit (MRL) alimentarius is not violated. Methods: A simple multiresidue method, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and solid phase extraction, was employed to detect the pesticides with a sufficient extraction method. Results: The lowest level of pesticide residues were concerning carbaryl, fenpropat, and endosulfan in cucumber samples selected from greenhouses and fields with 11.1%, while the highest level was concerning diazinon in cucumber samples of the fields with 55.5%. Carbaryl and permethrin showed the high residue means of 0.37 and 0.72 µg/g in tomato and cucumber samples, respectively. Conclusions: Vegetables and fruits with a high level of pesticide residues, which particularly violated the MRL, are sold in markets of Tehran, Iran. Therefore, it is suggested that the application of pesticides on fields and greenhouses be controlled and their residue levels be measured using the multiresidue method before distribution. The current study findings showed that the multi-residue method with GC/MS could detect a large number of pesticide residues at the same time with high accuracy. Therefore, it is recommended that this method be employed for all vegetables and fruits in order to assess their pesticide residue levels before reaching the markets.