Occurrence of pesticide residues in harvested products of various crops from European conventional and organic farming systems

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Authors	DA SILVA TOURINHO Paula HOCHMANOVÁ Zuzana KUKUČKA Petr HRONOVA Martina ŠUDOMA Marek SABZEVARI Shiva ALCON Francisco CONTRERAS Josefina ABRANTES Nelson CAMPOS Isabel BALDI Isabelle BUREAU Mathilde ALAOUI Abdallah CHRIST Florian MANDRIOLI Daniele SGARGI Daria PASKOVIC Igor PASKOVIC Marija Polic GLAVAN Matjaz HARKES Paula LWANGA Esperanza Huerta NORGAARD Trine SCHLUNSSEN Vivi JEGEDE Olukayode O. FANTKE Peter GEISSEN Violette MOL Hans RITSEMA Coen J. SILVA Vera SCHEEPERS Paul HOFMAN Jakub
Year of publication	2025
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Journal of Hazardous Materials
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
web	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389425020291?via%3Dihub
Doi	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139113
Keywords	Harvested commodities; Conventional farming system; Organic farming system; Pesticide mixtures; Maximum residue level; Plant protection products
Attached files	2519237.pdf
Description	The occurrence of 192 pesticide residues was analysed in harvested products from conventional (CF) and organic farms (OF) across European countries, focusing on vineyards, orchards, vegetables, oilseeds, and cereals. Pesticide residues were detected in 85.7 % of CF samples, with 71.4 % having multiple residues, and in 40.0 % of OF samples, with 13.7 % having multiple residues. Total and median concentrations of detected residues were higher in CF than OF samples. The highest total concentration per sample was found in Portugal (214 mu g/kg) for CF and Czechia (37 mu g/kg) for OF. Fungicide pyrimethanil (290 mu g/kg), herbicide glyphosate (192 mu g/kg), and insecticide phosmet (177 mu g/kg) showed the highest median concentrations in CF. Insecticide cypermethrin had the highest median concentration (88 mu g/kg)in OF, while other substances were <= 10 mu g/kg. OF had a higher proportion of banned substances than CF. In 12.2 % of CF samples and 5.3 % OF samples, the residue levels exceeded maximum residue levels. Our results highlight that the pesticide presence in crops is affected not only by farming systems but also by agricultural practices and crop types. Current risk assessment focuses on single substances and does not account for the exposure to multiple residues. However, our results demonstrated a frequent detection of multiple residues in CF samples.
Related projects:	CETOCOEN Excellence Sustainable Plant Protection Transition: A Global Health Approach RECETOX research infrastructure