Surveillance and dietary risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting pesticides in eggplant/brinjal and cauliflower in Pakistan

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 12; pp. 33650 - 33659
• Main Authors: Talat, Farwa, Aslam, Hina, Ahad, Karam, Rafique, Nazia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Brassica; Chlorpyrifos; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Food Contamination - analysis; Pakistan; Pesticide Residues - analysis; Pesticides - analysis; Research Article; Risk Assessment; Solanum melongena; Vegetables - chemistry; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Pakistan; Eggplant/brinjal; Cauliflower; Probable health risk; Endocrine-disrupting pesticides; QuEChERS; Dietary exposure
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-24624-y

Several pesticides (used in vegetable production) have recently been identified as potential endocrine disruptors. The current study aimed to determine the consumer exposure risk associated with eating contaminated vegetables. The European Union-citrate buffered QuEChERS extraction protocol, validated in accordance with the European Union guidelines, was used to monitor selected endocrine-disrupting pesticides in eggplant/brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.) and cauliflower ( Brassica oleracea ) marketed in Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan. A total of 80 and 69 percent of eggplant/brinjal ( n  = 25) and cauliflower ( n  = 26) samples were found contaminated, respectively. Sixty-five percent of cauliflower samples were found non-contaminated with both European Union (EU) and Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) maximum residue limits (MRL), while 20 % of brinjal samples were found to be non-compliant with EU-MRL. Both vegetables contained high levels of the androgen antagonist chlorpyrifos and the thyroid hormone inhibitor cyhalothrin-lambda. The estimated acute health risk associated with dietary exposure to chlorpyrifos and cyhalothrin-lambda in cauliflower for both males and females was found to be greater than 200 % of the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues’ (JMPR) established acute reference dose. The estimated chronic health risk for all studied endocrine-disrupting pesticides (0–5.27 %) indicates zero to very low health risk for studied population groups. Graphical Abstract