Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Pesticide Residues in Tea Samples from China

In the present study an effort was made to monitor the residue levels of 32 pesticides in tea samples collected from three representative tea districts of China during 2010 to 2012. A total of 223 samples of green tea, pu-erh tea, black tea, and oolong tea were determined using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Among 223 samples, 198 samples contained pesticide residues, and 39 samples had residue levels that were more than the European Union (EU) maximum residue limits (MRLs). The most positive and violated MLRs were observed in Oolong tea. The highest detection rates and the most often exceeding the MRLs were observed for the residues of bifenthrin. Ten pesticides were not found in the 223 tea samples. The potential health risks to consumers due to tea consumption in three representative cities were estimated. The results suggested that non-cancer hazards of organophosphorus, organochlorines, and pyrethroids and the cancer risks from exposure to hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor, chlordane, and pp'-DDT were clearly below the safe limit. Nevertheless, an investigation into continuous monitoring and tighter regulation of pesticide residues in tea samples are almost always desirable or even necessary for public health protection.