| خلاصه مقاله | The presence of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables poses serious health concerns, particularly when
fresh fruits and vulnerable to pesticide hazards are consumed by children. The aim of this study was to
determine the pesticide residues and non-cancer risk assessment in apple products of Maragheh County in
2020. Chronic non-carcinogenic risk assessment from pesticide residues in the samples was performed for age
groups of adults (women and men) and children using the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). The samples of
apples were taken every 15 days from the Central Fruit and Vegetable Market of Maragheh during the summer
and autumn months. A total of 30 apple samples were analyzed. The quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged,
and safe method (QuECheRS) was applied to extract pesticide residues form apple samples and gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to identify and quantify the compounds. Amongst the
seventeen studied pesticides, thirteen pesticide residues were detected. The highest concentrations observed in
apple samples were related to Chlorpyripos pesticides with 1.05 mg kg-1. 100% of samples contained pesticide
residues above Maximum Residue Level (MRL( . More than 75% of the apple samples contained ten or more
pesticide residues. About 45-80% of pesticide residues in apple samples were removed after the washing and
peeling processes. The results of the health risk assessment showed that the pesticide of chlorpyrifos had the
highest health quotient (HQ) for men, women, and children with values of 0.046, 0.054 and 0.23, respectively.
Based on the cumulative risk assessment (CRA), there is no considerable health risk for the age group of adults
from apple consumption (HI<1). Nevertheless, the children are at significant non-carcinogenic health risk due
to consumption of unwashed (HI=1.3) apples. In general, the results indicate that the high occurrence of
pesticide residues in apple samples can be considered a serious public health problem, especially for children.
Hence, continuous monitoring, stricter regulations, training, and improving the awareness level of farmers and
the public regarding residual of pesticide in fruits and vegetables are recommended. |