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Human health risk assessment of pesticide residues in market-sold vegetables and fish in a northern metropolis of China

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Abstract

With growing concerns about food safety and stricter national standards in China, attention has focused on vegetables and fish as they are an important part of the Chinese daily diet, and pesticide residues can accumulate in these foodstuffs. The local consumption habits of vegetables and fish were determined using questionnaires distributed in the major regions of the northern metropolis. Then, the samples of fruit-like vegetables, leafy and root vegetables, and five species of fish (freshwater and marine) were collected from supermarkets and traditional farmers’ markets in the city. The concentrations and profiles of pesticide residues (hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), and endosulfan) in the samples were determined and compared. For the vegetables, the concentration ranges of ΣDDT, ΣHCH, and Σendosulfan were not detectable (ND) to 10.4 ng/g fresh weight (f.w.), ND to 58.8 ng/g f.w., and ND to 63.9 ng/g f.w., respectively. For the fish samples, the corresponding values were 0.77–25.0 ng/g f.w., 0.02–1.42 ng/g f.w., and 1.22–22.1 ng/g f.w., respectively. Only one celery sample exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of HCH residues set by Chinese regulations (GB2763-2014). The estimated daily intakes (EDIs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using data from the recently published Exposure Factors Handbook for the Chinese Population. The EDIs and HRs showed that the levels of organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in vegetables and fish in this area are safe.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41001329) and the special fund for the Public Service Sector of the State Environmental Protection Agency of China (Grant Nos. 201009026 and 201209020) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2013M540122 and 2014T70105).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of River and Ocean Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, 400074, China

    Yanyan Fang & Yanmei Yang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Yanyan Fang, Zhiqiang Nie, Qingqi Die, Feng Liu, Jie He & Qifei Huang

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  1. Yanyan Fang
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  2. Zhiqiang Nie
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Correspondence to Zhiqiang Nie or Qifei Huang.

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Fang, Y., Nie, Z., Yang, Y. et al. Human health risk assessment of pesticide residues in market-sold vegetables and fish in a northern metropolis of China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 6135–6143 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3822-7

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