Pesticide Residue in Iranian Fruits and Vegetables: A Systematic Review
Fatemeh Toorang; PhD 1-3, Bahareh Sasanfar ; PhD* 2, 4-6, Hamed Pouraram; PhD 1 & Soheyl Eskandari; PhD 7
1 Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2 Cancer Research Center, Cancer Institute of Iran, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. Iran; 3 Departments of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy; 4 Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; 5 Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; 6 Student Research Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; 7 Food and Drug Laboratory Research Center, Food and Drug Administration, Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
ARTICLE INFO |
|
ABSTRACT |
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW |
Background: There is a growing concern about the health-threatening effects of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables worldwide. This study systematically reviewed the published data on pesticide residues in Iranian fruits and vegetables to clarify the gap in this issue. Method: The authors systematically searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, SID, and Iran Medex to find published studies on pesticide residues in Iranian foods without time and language restrictions. The title and abstract of all articles were evaluated after removing duplicate articles (2289 articles) by two independent reviewers. Finally, 25 articles were found that reported pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables. There was a great variation in measurement methods and pesticides reported across studies, which precluded meta-analysis. Therefore, a summary of the included studies was only reported. Results: Twenty-four studies reporting pesticide residues in Iranian fruits and vegetables were included. The percentage of Iranian fruits and vegetables contaminated with pesticides exceeding the maximum residue limit (MRL) was less than 10% in most studies. Contaminated samples were collected mainly from cultivated areas such as fields, orchards, or greenhouses. Conclusion: Pesticide residues in food have not been systematically reported in Iran. It was found that only limited articles were published by academic societies on this issue. Considering the current scenario, there is an urgent need to facilitate reliable and continuous measurements of toxic residues in Iranian food.
Keywords: Pesticide; Fruit; Vegetable; Systematic review; Iran |
Article history:
Received: 6 Jul 2022
Revised: 29 Jul 2022
Accepted: 28 Aug 2022
|
*Corresponding author:
bsasanfar@yahoo.com
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Postal code: 13145-158
Tel: +98 21 66581638 |
Introduction
fruits and vegetables are the main components of a healthy diet recommended by international guidelines to improve general health and reduce the risk of several diseases (World Health Organization, 2019). Many studies have identified plant food as food rich in various micronutrients and phytochemicals that are essential for health and prevention of common diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (Mayne et al., 2016). However, replacing animal food with fruits and vegetables can protect our planet (Vaidyanathan, 2021).
There is a growing concern about the health-threatening effects of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables worldwide. It is clear that pesticides harm the environment and every living being, including humans. Studies have shown that exposure to pesticides may lead to chronic and short-term health problems in humans. The most common short-term side effects are nausea, vomiting, and headache (Kim et al., 2017). Long-term effects that are not easily detected and can be more dangerous include behavioral changes, several cancers, and disruption of the endocrine and reproductive systems (Alavanja et al., 2004, Asghar et al., 2016, Kim et al., 2017).
On the other hand, most farmers and policymakers believe that pesticides are important components in improving the food security of countries and their use is an inevitable factor to meet the global demand for sufficient and affordable food (Popp et al., 2013). Considering these two arguments, some international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have established a standard protocol for the use of pesticides, and the maximum residue limit (MRL) for pesticides in food, which is expressed in milligrams per kilogram of food, and if a food has a higher limit, it will be considered unhealthy (Herrman, 1993).
Developing countries such as Iran have been accused of excessive use of toxins, which is generally due to the identification of some high levels of residual toxins in export food baskets. This issue can damage their food image all over the world (Donkor et al., 2016). Moreover, the level of pesticide residues in domestic food is likely to be similar to that of exports, which could affect national health (Carvalho, 2006). These problems may be due to the lack of awareness of food producers, including farmers, as well as ineffective national laws and permits (Carvalho, 2006).
Due to the mentioned danger of pesticides for human health and wildlife, the use of pesticides is under continuous monitoring. Although there have been studies on pesticide residues in Iran, there is no comprehensive information about it. Therefore, this study systematically reviewed the published data on pesticide residues in Iranian fruits and vegetables to clarify the gap in this issue.
Materials and Methods
Data sources: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, SID, and Iran Medex were systematically searched to find published studies on pesticide residues in Iranian foods without time and language restrictions. Different search strategies were used in different databases (Table 1) using these keywords:
)Pesticide or herbicide or insecticide (and Iran
Study selection: The title and abstract of all articles were evaluated after removing duplicate articles (2289 articles) by two independent reviewers and resolved disagreements through discussion. The title and abstract of the articles found in Google Scholar were read and 26 articles that met the study criteria were entered into the Endnote file. Reference lists of included studies were reviewed to identify articles not captured by the authors’ search.
This study aimed to systematically review all the studies that have reported the residual toxins in Iranian food. After reading the abstracts
of the articles, the researchers included 31 studies on fruits and vegetables, 10 on fish, 2 on honey,
and 27 on other food types. Considering the comprehensiveness of the data related to fruits and vegetables, as well as the Iranian society's fear of agricultural pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables, only the results related to the pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables were reported. After reading the full text of 31 articles on fruits and vegetables, 25 articles met the study criteria. One study related to laboratory-grown vegetables, three studies on standardized methods for measuring toxins, one study on fungal contamination, and one study on phthalate contamination were excluded.
Data extraction: Data from 24 studies related to fruits and vegetables were transferred to Excel tables. The data were summarized based on a table prepared by two reviewers, which included data on the type of vegetables or fruits, pesticides identified, first author and year of publication, geographical location, mean concentration, percentage of contaminated samples, and the place of sample collection (farm, market, or garden). There was a great variation in measurement methods and pesticides reported across studies, which precluded meta-analysis. Therefore, the authors only reported summary findings of the included studies.
Results
First, 2464 articles were found from international electronic databases, 205 of which were duplicate articles, and also 30 articles were found from Persian databases. Therefore, the title and abstract of 2289 articles were reviewed to find studies that investigated pesticide residues in Iranian food. Finally, 24 articles were found that reported pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables (24 articles), wheat (1 article), rice (1 article), tea (1 article), sugar (1 article), eggs (1 article), wild duck (1 article), fish (5 articles), and honey (1 article). Since there was limited information on food groups other than fruits and vegetables, this report was limited to fruits and vegetables.
Most studies measured pesticide residues in samples obtained from gardens, greenhouses, and fields (Behbahaninia, 2007, Ganjeizadeh Rohani et al., 2014, Hagian Shahri et al., 2014, Khak et al., 2016, Khaniki et al., 2011, Leili et al., 2016, Pirsaheb et al., 2017, Sobhanardakani et al., 2016). Two studies measured pesticide residues in samples obtained simultaneously from market and cultivated areas (Sobhanardakani et al., 2014, Sobhanardakani et al., 2016). Jahanmard et al. examined tomatoes from a salad factory. This was the only study that tested the residue after processing (Jahanmard et al., 2016). Finally, some studies reported residuals in market samples (Akhlaghi et al., 2013, askari et al., 2014, Hadian and Azizi, 2008). The residual level in the cultivation areas was generally higher than the market.
Most of the studies investigated pesticide residues in cucumber and tomato, as 9 studies were conducted on cucumber (Ardakani et al., 2012, Behbahaninia, 2007, Farshad, 2001, Ganjeizadeh Rohani et al., 2014, Hadian et al., 2006, Hagian Shahri et al., 2014, Khaniki et al., 2011, Leili et al., 2016, Shokrzadeh et al., 2013) and 9 studies on tomato (Ardakani et al., 2012, Bayat et al., 2015, Hadian et al., 2006, Hagian Shahri et al., 2014, Jafari et al., 2012, Jahanmard et al., 2016, Khak et al., 2016, Khaniki et al., 2011, Mohammadi and Imani, 2012). Other studied commodities included apples (Akhlaghi et al., 2013, Hagian Shahri et al., 2014, Mina and Maryam, 2012, Pirsaheb et al., 2017), melons (Akhlaghi et al., 2013, Hadian and Azizi, 2008), grapes (Hagian Shahri et al., 2014), mushrooms (Sobhanardakani et al., 2014), zucchini (Sobhanardakani et al., 2016), strawberry (Golepoor et al., 2014) cherry (Akhlaghi et al., 2013, askari et al., 2014), and watermelons (Akhlaghi et al., 2013). In 24 studies, 36 pesticide residues were reported in different commodities. They included abamectin, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, ethion, imidacloprid, cypermethrin, permethrin, indoxacarb, mancozeb, chlorothalonil, iprodione, thiophanate methyl, carbendazim gelsam, pyrethroids, dischlorompatiraphan, tepe, dichloropatyraphan, tepe, dichloropatylate, carben, dischlorofandoparithion, carblo, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulfate, oxymethon, methyl, dichlorvos, metalaxyl, fenpropathrin, fenpropathrin, malate, fenitrothion, oxymethon methyl, P metrozine, fesalone, and fenvalerate.
Unfortunately, studies mostly reported only pesticide concentrations, and most of them did not report the percentage of commodities that were contaminated above the MRL. In most of the studies reporting the percentage exceeding the MRL, it was less than ten percent of the commodity. However, two studies reported a high percentage of heavily contaminated commodities. Ganjizadeh reported that 53% of Kerman greenhouse cucumbers were contaminated with diazinon more than the MRL, and this percentage was 78.33% for methyl oxymethon (Ganjeizadeh Rohani et al., 2014). Diazinon contamination was reported in all cucumbers and tomato greenhouses of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces exceeding the MRL (Khaniki et al., 2011). It should be noted that some studies investigated the residues of banned pesticides such as carbamil and fortunately these products were free of those pesticides.
Table 1. Search strategies in different databases. |
|
Database |
Searching strategy |
Number of found articles |
Date of search |
Scopus
|
(Pesticide OR herbicide OR insecticide [title/abstract] ) AND Iran (affiliation) |
2066 |
2018 July 8 |
PubMed
|
(Pesticide OR herbicide OR insecticide [title/abstract] ) AND Iran (affiliation) |
389 |
2018 July 8 |
Google Scholar |
(Pesticide herbicide insecticide (+ Iran |
17500 |
2018 July 8 |
Sid |
Pesticide or herbicide (in Persian) |
25 |
2018 July 8 |
Iran medex |
Pesticide or herbicide (in Persian) |
5 |
2018 July 8 |
|
|
Author |
Sampling site |
Sample size |
Detecting
technique |
Geographic location |
Commodity |
Mean or range of concentrations(ppm) of Detected pesticides |
|
(Pirsaheb et al., 2017) |
Gardens |
500g of golden or red apples from 50 garden |
DLLME-SFO coupled with HPLC-UV |
Mahabad |
Golden apple |
Abamectin (0), Diazinon (10.289), Chlorpyrifos (9.51) |
|
Red apple |
Abamectin (0), Diazinon (8.867), Chlorpyrifos (8.047) |
|
(Leili et al., 2016) |
Greenhouses |
1000mg from 10 greenhouses |
QuEChERS
Followed by GC-MS |
Hamadan |
Cucumber (One day after pesticide application) |
Ethion (0.867-0.975), Imidacloprid (1.13-1.207) |
|
|
(Sobhanardakani et al., 2016) |
Greenhouses and markets |
|
Spectrophotometric |
Hamadan |
Zucchini |
Diazinon (0.093-0.159) |
|
(Khak et al., 2016) |
Farms |
37 samples from every farm |
|
Jam, Dashtestan, Dashti, Deir, and Kangan (mean of all cities are reported) |
Tomato |
Cypermethrin (0.071±0.069), Permethrin (0.272±0.19), Indoxacarb (0.03±0.017), Mancozeb (0.035±0.019), Chlorothalonil (0.15±0.238), Iprodione (0.004±0.003), Thiophanate Methyl (0.11±0.183), Carbendazim golsam (0.107±0.156), Abamectin (0) |
|
(Jahanmard et al., 2016) |
Salad production plant |
22 samples |
QuEChERS
Followed by GC-MS |
Isfahan |
Tomato |
Pyrethroid, Diazinone (107.67-579.81), Chlorpyrifos (144.92-254.84), Primicarb (free), Dischlorvos(free), Carbaryl(free), Malathion(free), Brompropilate (free), Propargit (free), Tetradifone(free), Posalone(free), Iprodion(free), Endosulfane(free) |
|
(Sobhanardakani et al., 2014) |
Greenhouses and markets |
10 samples |
Spectrophotometry |
Hamadan |
Mushroom |
Diazinon (0.04-0.166) |
|
(Hagian Shahri et al., 2014) |
Cultivation regions |
6 samples of cucumber |
QuEChERS Fallowed
by GC-MS |
Mashhad, Neyshaboor and Sabzevar |
Cucumber |
Malathion (5.09), Oxydemethon (3.33), Methyl (0.18), Diazinon (0.43), Dichlrovos (2.38), Metalaxyl(0.41), Fenpropathrin(6.32), |
|
8 samples of tomato |
Mashhad, Chenaran, Fariman, Neyshaboor and Ghoochan |
Tomato |
Fanpropatrin (7.65), Azinphos methyl (0.16), Diazinon (0.235), Phosalone (0.1), |
|
8samples of cherries |
Mashhad and Neyshaboor |
Cherry |
Diazinon (11.2), Malation (0.79), Fenpropidin (1.57), |
|
10 samples of grapes |
Hagian-shahri M. |
Grape |
Ethion (2.4), Malathion (12.46), Diazinon (0.48) |
|
7 samples of apples |
Mashhad, Chenaran, Ghoochan and Neyshaboor |
Apple |
Ethion (1.59), Fenitrothion (0.06) |
|
(Ganjeizadeh Rohani et al., 2014) |
Greenhouses |
60 samples |
spectrophotometry |
Kerman |
cucumber |
Diazinon (0.582), Oxydemeton methyl (1.91) |
|
|
(Akhlaghi et al., 2013) |
Local markets and villages |
75 |
QuEChERS
Followed by GC-MS |
A change village |
Apple |
Diazinon
0.17±0.04 |
|
Grape |
0.41±0.15 |
|
Melon |
0.27±0.04 |
|
Watermelon |
0.12±0.03 |
|
Cherry |
0.18±0.04 |
|
Tabas village |
Apple |
0.25±0.08 |
|
Grape |
0.22±0.06 |
|
Melon |
0.27±0.06 |
|
Watermelon |
0.20±0.06 |
|
Cherry |
0.11±0.06 |
|
Barghamad village |
Apple |
0.14±0.04 |
|
Grape |
0.35±0.12 |
|
Melon |
0.84±0.19 |
|
Watermelon |
0.18±0.06 |
|
Cherry |
0.30±0.18 |
|
Sabzevar local market |
Apple |
0.26±0.11 |
|
Grape |
0.30±0.14 |
|
Melon |
0.55±0.14 |
|
Watermelon |
0.23±0.08 |
|
Cherry |
0.88±0.21 |
|
Neyshabur local market |
Apple |
0.24±0.07 |
|
Grape |
0.34±0.15 |
|
Melon |
0.26±0.09 |
|
Watermelon |
0.17±0.07 |
|
Cherry |
0.12±0.02 |
|
(Khaniki et al., 2011) |
Greenhouses |
60 samples |
HPLC |
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province |
Cucumber |
Oxydimeton methyl
0.23±0.17 |
|
Tomato |
1.61±0.8 |
|
(askari et al., 2014) |
Wholesale markets |
40 samples |
|
Tehran (From farms in Lavasan, Shahriar, Ghazvin, Mashhad, and Orumieh) |
Cherry |
Diazinon
Mashhad: 0.3Lavasan: 0.29Diazinon in Samples from other cities were undetectable |
|
|
(Behbahaninia, 2007) |
Farms |
12 samples |
Gas chromatography |
Damavand |
Cucumber |
Tetradifone (0-0.92), Pymetrozine (0.0214-2.67), Deltamethrin (0-0.55) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Hadian and Azizi, 2006) |
Wholesale markets |
10 samples of cucumber
10 samples of tomato |
GC/ITMS To detect 117 pesticides |
Tehran market (from Poldokhtar farms) |
Cucumber |
Endosulfane I (0.032±0.0049), Endosulfane II (0.03±0.0045), Endosulfane sulphate (0.04±0.0032) |
|
|
Tehran market (from Khorramabad farms) |
Cucumber |
Chlorpyrifos (0.028±0.0037) |
|
|
Tehran market (from (Ghazvine farms |
Tomato |
Phosalone (0.045±0.0084) |
|
|
Tehran market (from (Varamin farms |
Tomato |
Fenvalerate (0.05), |
|
|
(Golepoor et al., 2014) |
Farms |
3 |
QUECHERS
GC-MS |
Tonekabon |
Strawberry |
Dursban (ND), Diazinon (ND), Ethion (ND), Malathion (ND) |
|
|
120 |
Bahmanmir-Babolsar |
Dursban (3.47±0.52), Diazinon (9.10±1.49), Ethion (1.35±0.06), Malathion (7.99±0.93) |
|
|
5 |
Amol |
Dursban (ND), Diazinon (ND), Ethion (ND), Malathion (ND), |
|
|
15 |
Babol |
Dursban (8.82±0.82), Diazinon (ND), Ethion (ND), Malathion (ND) |
|
|
28 |
Jooybar |
Dursban (9.99 ±1.65), Diazinon (1.84±0.29), Ethion (12.15 ±1.15), Malathion (ND) |
|
|
10 |
Kiakola |
Dursban (ND), Diazinon (6.33±1.33), Ethion (6.23±0.23), Malathion (ND) |
|
|
10 |
Behshahr |
Dursban(ND), Diazinon(219.68±32.65), Ethion(ND), Malathion (0.56±0.04), |
|
|
20 |
Sari |
Ethion (ND), Malathion (ND) |
|
|
(Mohammadi and Imani, 2012) |
Wholesale markets |
2000mg in 25 samples from 10 markets |
HPLC GC/NPD GC/MS |
Karaj |
Tomato |
Chlorpyrifos (0.2), Deltamethrin (0.09) |
|
|
|
|
(Jafari et al., 2012) |
Central fruit and vegetables market |
40 greenhouses,40 greenhouse from different cities |
HPLC with UV detection |
Tehran |
Tomato |
Dithiocarbamate (0.14) |
|
|
(Bayat et al., 2015) |
The market of Mashhad City |
4 samples |
HPLC |
Hormozgan |
Tomato |
Diazinon |
|
0.20±0.01 |
|
Khozestan |
0.36±0.01 |
|
Shiraz |
0.46±0.01 |
|
Neyshaboor |
0.54±0.01 |
|
Chenaran |
0.57±0.02 |
|
Mashhad |
0.64±0.01 |
|
(Mina and Maryam, 2012) |
Garden |
972 samples |
|
Damavand |
Red apple |
Diazinon (0.70±0.36), Chlorpyrifos (1.35±0.82), |
|
|
Golden apple |
Diazinon (0.65±0.17), Chlorpyrifos (1.09±0.21), |
|
|
(Hadian et al., 2006) |
Central fruit and vegetables market in Tehran |
10 |
HPGPC
CC/ITMS |
Saveh |
Cantaloupe |
Endosulfan II (0), Endosulfan sulfate (0.06) |
|
|
10 |
Dezful |
Watermelon |
Endosulfan II (ND), Endosulfan sulfate (ND) |
|
|
Ahvaz |
Endosulfan II(ND), Endosulfan sulfate (ND) |
|
|
10 |
Varamin |
Melon |
Endosulfan II(ND), Endosulfan sulfate (ND) |
|
|
Torbatejam |
Endosulfan II(ND), Endosulfan sulfate (0.02) |
|
|
(Hadian and Azizi, 2008) |
Central fruit and vegetables market in Tehran |
10 samples of cucumber |
GC/ITMS |
Poldokhtar |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan I (0.032±0.005), Endosulfan II (0.03±0.004) |
|
|
Endosulfan sulphate (0.04±0.003), Chlorpyrifos (0.028±0.004) |
|
Khorramabad |
|
10 samples of tomato |
Varamin |
Tomato |
Phosalone (0.45±0.008) |
|
Fenvalerate (0.05) |
|
(Shokrzadeh et al., 2013) |
Garden |
100 |
GC/MS |
Sari |
Orange |
Diazinon (0.4) |
|
(Shokerzadeh et al., 2006) |
Farm |
8 samples |
GC |
Neka (8 samples) |
Cucumber |
Benomyl: bush (0.037±0.002), tree (0.043±0.003); Mancozeb: bush (0.029±0.004), tree (0.030±0.03) |
|
|
20 samples |
Sari (20 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.21±0.001), tree (0.039±0.003); Mancozeb: bush (0.033±0.002), tree (0.039±0.004) |
|
|
16 |
Jooybar (16 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.038±0.004), tree (0.041±0.002); Mancozeb: bush (0.046±0.002), tree (0.035±0.003) |
|
|
12 |
Ghaemshahr (12 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.028±0.003), tree (0.032±0.001); Mancozeb: bush (0.030±0.001), tree (0.021±0.002) |
|
|
4 |
Babol (4 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.024±0.01), tree (0.042±0.003); Mancozeb: bush (0.031±0.001), tree (0.034±0.004) |
|
|
8 |
Babolsar(8 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.051±0.004), tree (0.026±0.002); Mancozeb: bush (0.035±0.002), tree (0.048±0.005) |
|
|
72 |
Total (mazandarn province) (72 samples) |
Benomyl: bush (0.032±0.002), tree (0.036±0.002); Mancozeb: bush (0.035±0.002), tree (0.036±0.003 ) |
|
|
(Ardakani et al., 2012) |
Farm |
106 samples of cucumber and 48 samples of tomato |
GC(ECD/NPD) |
Gachsaran |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.352), β isomer (0.443); Diazinon (0.462) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.325), β isomer (0.284); Diazinon (0.504) |
|
|
Kohgyloyeh |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.167), β isomer (0.271); Diazinon (0.205) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.130), β isomer (0.216); Diazinon (0.195) |
|
|
Boyreahmad |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.295), β isomer (0.349); Diazinon (0.669) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.447), β isomer (0.435); Diazinon (0.392) |
|
|
Dena |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.207), β isomer (0.297); Diazinon (0.088) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.131), β isomer (0.102); Diazinon (0.534) |
|
|
Market |
4 samples from each city |
Total (kohkiloyeh & boyerahmad province) |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.255), β isomer (0.341); Diazinon (0.355) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.258), β isomer (0.256); Diazinon (0.406) |
|
|
Yasouj |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (Undetectable), β isomer (Undetectable); Diazinon (0.121) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (Undetectable), β isomer (0.006); Diazinon (0.030) |
|
|
Dehdasht |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.008), β isomer (0.016); Diazinon (0.201) |
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (Undetectable), β isomer (0.011); Diazinon (0.211) |
|
|
Ghachsaran |
Cucumber |
Endosulfan: α isomer (0.021), β isomer (0.031); Diazinon (0.092) |
|
|
|
Tomato |
Endosulfan: α isomer (Undetectable), β isomer (Undetectable); Diazinon (Undetectable) |
|
|
(Farshad, 2001) |
Wholesale market |
378 |
GC ECD_TSD |
Tehran |
Cucumber |
Β-hch (0.2226±0.042), Linden (0.005±0.0013), Heptachior (0.003±0.0008), Heptachlorepoxid (0.019±0.0122), Dielrin(0.0028±0.0002), PP-DDE(0.004±0.0005), β endosulfan(0.0007±0.0004), OP-DDT(0.02±0.0007), PP-DDT(0.01±0.0215), Parathion(0.0364±0.109), Phamthion (0), Diazinon (0), Malathion (0.136±0.1129), Chloroprimiphos (0), Phirimiphos (0.085±0.0525), Phenirtathion (0.059±0.127) |
|
|
|
|
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|
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|
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Discussion
In this systematic review, 24 studies were included reporting pesticide residues in Iranian fruits and vegetables. The percentage of Iranian fruits and vegetables contaminated with pesticides exceeding the MRL was less than 10% in most studies. Samples of contaminated goods were collected mainly from cultivated areas such as fields, orchards, or greenhouses. The amount of pesticides decreased significantly after a few days; therefore, the residual toxins were less before consumption by people.
Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables have been reported higher in Ghana (Donkor et al., 2016) compared to Iran. However, the pesticides reported in this study were somewhat different from Iranian studies and the sampling sites were not mentioned. The percentage of foods contaminated with pesticides above the MRL was close to the present study although the pesticides examined were slightly different (Donkor et al., 2016). Overall, pesticide residue control appears to be a serious problem in most developing countries although the extent of the problem can vary slightly. There is now enough evidence to claim misuse or even overuse of pesticides in most developing countries, mostly due to a lack of education (Ecobichon, 2001).
It is generally believed that the use of pesticides is inevitable (Carvalho, 2006) to ensure food security worldwide. On the other hand, the WHO has reported that in developing countries, 37,000 cases of cancer are linked to pesticide use each year (Tudi et al., 2021). In addition, the FAO reported that three million people worldwide are poisoned by pesticides every year, and 200,000 people die each year. The worst part is that the majority of them are from developing countries (Watts, 2010). Another important problem is the use of banned pesticides in developing countries (Tariq et al., 2007). Therefore, it is clear that pesticide residues must be monitored to control side effects.
In fact, pesticide residues in food have not been systematically reported in Iran. Public institutions do not systematically report residues, and only a few articles were published by academic societies. Considering the current scenario, there is an urgent need to facilitate reliable and continuous measurements of toxic residues in Iranian food. What is more important is to create systematic training of farmers to use appropriate pesticides through effective methods such as social marketing. The authors strongly recommend that public awareness of the safe use of pesticides should be raised through mass media and social media. The control of pesticide residues based on the Codex Alimentarius is inevitable for Iran, not only because of the health of citizens but also because of the possibility of exporting food.
Conclusion
This systematic review on pesticide residues in Iran found limited studies, indicating a paucity of data. In most studies, less than 10% of Iranian fruits and vegetables were contaminated with toxins above the acceptable limits. However, at this time, we cannot make an accurate claim about pesticide residues in Iranian food, and further studies are required.
Acknowledgment
There is no acknowledgment.
Authors’ contributions
Toorang F designed the study and did the primary search. Toorang F and Sasanfar B performed study selection and data extraction. Eskandari S and Pouraram H consulted the whole study. All authors read and approved the paper.
Conflict of interest
None of the authors declared any conflict of interest.
Funding
None
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