Kazimierczak Renata, Średnicka-Tober Dominika, Golba Jan, Nowacka Anna, Hołodyńska-Kulas Agnieszka, Kopczyńska Klaudia, Góralska-Walczak Rita, Gnusowski Bogusław
Department of Functional and Organic Food, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
Organic Farming and Food Quality Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Wspólna 30, 00-930 Warsaw, Poland.
Foods. 2022 Jul 1;11(13):1963. doi: 10.3390/foods11131963.
In recent years, organic food, produced with the use of natural means and production methods, has been gaining more and more popularity among consumers. This is due, inter alia, to their belief that it is more abundant in health-promoting bioactive compounds and safer than conventional food. Consumers are increasingly aware of the harmfulness of plant protection products used in intensive agriculture, which are not allowed in organic production. At the same time, it is reported that a certain share of organic products on the EU market are contaminated with pesticide residues, which may raise consumer concerns and lead to a loss of trust in organic food. The aim of the present study was to investigate the problem of pesticide residues occurrence in random samples of organically produced fruits and vegetables (apples, potatoes, carrots, and beetroots) commonly used in the Polish households, and which are available directly from the organic producers in open markets in Poland. For simultaneous analysis of 375 pesticides, an LC-MS/MS system consisting of an Eksigent expert ultraLC 100-XL coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer QTRAP 6500 and GC Agilent 6890 N equipped with ECD/NPD system were used. Among the 96 vegetable and fruit samples studied, 89 samples (92.7%) were free from detectable pesticide residues, 7 samples (7.3%) of carrot (5) and potato (2) were contaminated, and in 1 of them (1.0%) the detected residues exceeded the maximum residue limit (MRL). None of the tested apple and beetroot samples were found to contain detectable residues. These findings are important for Polish consumers who look for high-quality organic food. However, the presence of detectable residues in a small proportion of the organic samples indicates a need to strengthen the monitoring of pesticides in organic crops, to educate farmers and to raise their awareness regarding the risks of unauthorized use of pesticides banned in organic farming, which can damage the reputation of the whole organic sector.
近年来，采用天然手段和生产方法生产的有机食品在消费者中越来越受欢迎。这尤其归因于他们认为有机食品富含更多促进健康的生物活性化合物且比传统食品更安全。消费者越来越意识到集约农业中使用的植物保护产品的危害，而这些产品在有机生产中是不允许使用的。同时，有报道称欧盟市场上一定比例的有机产品被农药残留污染，这可能引发消费者担忧并导致对有机食品失去信任。本研究的目的是调查波兰家庭常用的、直接从波兰露天市场的有机生产商处获得的有机生产的水果和蔬菜（苹果、土豆、胡萝卜和甜菜根）随机样本中农药残留的问题。为了同时分析375种农药，使用了由Eksigent expert ultraLC 100-XL与三重四极杆质谱仪QTRAP 6500联用组成的液相色谱-串联质谱系统以及配备电子捕获检测器/氮磷检测器系统的安捷伦6890 N气相色谱仪。在所研究的96个蔬菜和水果样本中，89个样本（92.7%）未检测到农药残留，7个样本（7.3%）的胡萝卜（5个）和土豆（2个）被污染，其中1个样本（1.0%）检测到的残留超过了最大残留限量（MRL）。未发现测试的苹果和甜菜根样本含有可检测到的残留。这些发现对寻找高品质有机食品的波兰消费者很重要。然而，一小部分有机样本中存在可检测到的残留表明有必要加强对有机作物中农药的监测，对农民进行教育并提高他们对有机农业中禁止使用的未经授权农药风险的认识，因为这可能损害整个有机行业的声誉。
