Risk assessment of pesticide residues from foods of plant origin in Lebanon

Pesticide residues can be found in foods of plant origin which can cause adverse health effects. The aim of this study is to assess the risk of exposure to pesticide residues (180) from foods (478 samples of 49 food items) of plant origin collected in Beirut, Lebanon. Pesticides were extracted by QuEChERS method and analyzed through liquid and gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Of the 387 samples, 58 (32.2%) residues were detected. Over 50 % of the positive samples for 14 residues were exceeding the Maximum Residue Limits of European Union. All of the hazard quotient (HQ) values were less than 1 with respect to all age groups except for the pesticide residue chlorpyrifos in cucumber (1.7945). This suggests that the majority of foods examined for the pesticide residues can be considered safe for consumption by Lebanese children, although Chlorpyrifos in cucumber was of concern.