| Abstract text: |
Pesticides are used widely throughout the world to control insects, diseases and weeds in crops for human consumption. Residues can arise from: the use on a crop of legally allowed pesticides according to good agricultural practice; overuse of a pesticide, or use too close to harvest, of a legally permitted pesticide; illegal use of a pesticide that is not approved for that crop; incorrect use of pesticides after harvest, to reduce pest infestation in storage or in transit. The use of pesticides in food production inevitably leaves residues and strict standards need to be maintained to guarantee food safety. During 2007 -2008 about 5198 samples of fruits, vegetables and cereals were analyzed in the Romanian national monitoring program. The general strategy is detection as many pesticides as possible in one analyses by using Multi-Residue-Methods (MRMs). The extracts are analyzed by chromatographic separation and selective detection of residues. The detection methods are Gas Chromatography (GC) with Electron Capture Detection (ECD) and Gas Chromatography with Nitrogen Phosphorus Detection (NPD). 779 samples were found to contain pesticides residues, but no MRL exceeding was found. Among pesticides sought, the most frequent found are: chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl, imazalil, procimidon, carbendazim and endosulfan. From domestic samples, apples, grapes, strawberries and tomatoes present pesticides residues frequently. The non-domestic samples which have been found with pesticides residues are: oranges, grapes and tomatoes. |
