Simultaneous determination of multiple pesticide residues in Iranian saffron: A probabilistic health risk assessment

Abstract Saffron is a strategic agricultural product having extensive flavoring applications in Asia. Although utilization of pesticides for its cultivation is limited, there is a possible risk of contamination in this prominent spice. Herein, 88 pesticides were analyzed in 34 fsamples collected from the most crucial saffron-rich region of the country using a miniaturized QuEChERS approach and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Results indicated that LOQs and LDR were within the ranges of 5–50 and 5-1000 µg L-1 (5.49-54.9 and 5.49-1099 µg Kg-1), respectively. Considering LOQ values, 3.4% out of 34 samples were contaminated by at least one pesticide. The highest mean values related to carbendazim and iprodione were obtained to be 10.6 and 8.79 µg Kg-1, respectively. However, only eight samples exhibited pesticide residues higher than the limits specified by European Union. Furthermore, probabilistic human health risk assessment of pesticides was investigated using a Hazard Quotient (HQ) method in Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. Total Hazard Quotient (THQ) values according to the consumption of saffron in adults and children were calculated as 2.5E-5 and 1.2E-4, respectively. Consequently, the applied health risk assessment on Iranian saffron samples revealed that HQ for adults and children populations might not pose health hazards. Most Iranian saffron samples are safe; their pesticide residue levels are below the EU MRLs, and the observed mean values were much lower than MRLs

[1]  Piotr Kaczyński,et al.  Modification of Multiresidue QuEChERS Protocol to Minimize Matrix Effect and Improve Recoveries for Determination of Pesticide Residues in Dried Herbs Followed by GC-MS/MS , 2018, Food Analytical Methods.

[2]  D. Oulkar,et al.  A simultaneous screening and quantitative method for the multiresidue analysis of pesticides in spices using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution (Orbitrap) mass spectrometry. , 2018, Journal of chromatography. A.

[3]  H. Rastegar,et al.  An applicable strategy for improvement recovery in simultaneous analysis of 20 pesticides residue in tea. , 2013, Journal of food science.

[4]  Iwona Cieslik,et al.  Determination of pesticide residues in fish tissues by modified QuEChERS method and dual-d-SPE clean-up coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , 2014, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[5]  P. Shah,et al.  Evaluation of Matrix Effects in Multiresidue Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Vegetables and Spices by LC-MS/MS. , 2017, Journal of AOAC International.

[6]  K. Racke,et al.  Pesticide residues in food--acute dietary exposure. , 2004, Pest management science.

[7]  N. Tavengwa,et al.  Recent developments and applications of QuEChERS based techniques on food samples during pesticide analysis , 2019 .

[8]  E. Pazira,et al.  Regression Analysis for Yield Comparison of Saffron as Affected by Physicochemical Properties of the Soil, Case Study in Northeast of Iran , 2020, Agricultural Research.

[9]  M. T. Ahmed,et al.  Risk assessment of some organic contaminants: a case study based on food consumption in Tanta and Ismailia cities, Egypt , 2018, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[10]  Amin Mousavi Khaneghah,et al.  The concentration and probabilistic health risk assessment of pesticide residues in commercially available olive oils in Iran. , 2018, Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association.

[11]  Massimo F. Marcone,et al.  Chemical and biological properties of the world's most expensive spice: Saffron , 2010 .

[12]  F. Golmohammadi.  Saffron and its Farming, Economic Importance, Export, Medicinal characteristics and Various Uses in South Khorasan Province- East of Iran , 2014 .

[13]  K. Fytianos,et al.  Part II: temporal and spatial distribution of multiclass pesticide residues in lake sediments of northern Greece: application of an optimized MAE-LC-MS/MS pretreatment and analytical method , 2014, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[14]  S. A. Gadalla,et al.  Development of an efficient method for multi residue analysis of 160 pesticides in herbal plant by ethyl acetate hexane mixture with direct injection to GC-MS/MS. , 2017, Talanta.

[15]  Milena Zachariasova,et al.  Critical assessment of extraction methods for the simultaneous determination of pesticide residues and mycotoxins in fruits, cereals, spices and oil seeds employing ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2012, Journal of chromatography. A.

[16]  A. Zalacain,et al.  Multi-residue contaminants and pollutants analysis in saffron spice by stir bar sorptive extraction and gas chromatography-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry. , 2008, Journal of chromatography. A.

[17]  A. Khaneghah,et al.  Pesticide Residue Determination In Shahr-E-Rey Tomatoes Using Quechers Method , 2012 .

[18]  T. Mall.  SAFFRON-A TREASURE OF THE ANCIENT MEDICINE CHEST-AN OVERVIEW , 2017 .

[19]  A. Fernández-Alba,et al.  Validation and uncertainty study of a comprehensive list of 160 pesticide residues in multi-class vegetables by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2008, Journal of chromatography. A.

[20]  A. Fernández-Alba,et al.  Pesticide residues in spices and herbs: Sample preparation methods and determination by chromatographic techniques , 2019, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry.

[21]  Magdalena Jankowska,et al.  Influence of QuEChERS modifications on recovery and matrix effect during the multi-residue pesticide analysis in soil by GC/MS/MS and GC/ECD/NPD , 2017, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[22]  A. Heshmati,et al.  Persistence and dissipation behavior of pesticide residues in parsley (Petroselinum crispum) under field conditions , 2020 .

[23]  M. A. A. Donia,et al.  Pesticide residues in some Egyptian spices and medicinal plants as affected by processing , 2001 .

[24]  I. Fomsgaard,et al.  Application of the QuEChERS procedure and LC–MS/MS for the assessment of neonicotinoid insecticide residues in cocoa beans and shells , 2015 .

[25]  R. Perestrelo,et al.  QuEChERS - Fundamentals, relevant improvements, applications and future trends. , 2019, Analytica chimica acta.

[26]  A. M. García-Campaña,et al.  QuEChERS-based method for the determination of carbamate residues in aromatic herbs by UHPLC-MS/MS. , 2017, Food chemistry.

[27]  B. Giroud,et al.  Exposure assessment of honeybees through study of hive matrices: analysis of selected pesticide residues in honeybees, beebread, and beeswax from French beehives by LC-MS/MS , 2018, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[28]  M. Nieuwenhuijsen,et al.  New developments in exposure assessment: the impact on the practice of health risk assessment and epidemiological studies. , 2006, Environment international.

[29]  Miniaturized QuEChERS based methodology for multiresidue determination of pesticides in odonate nymphs as ecosystem biomonitors. , 2018, Talanta.

[30]  A. Fernández-Alba,et al.  High-throughput gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of pesticide residues in spices by using the enhanced matrix removal-lipid and the sample dilution approach. , 2018, Journal of chromatography. A.

[31]  Bernadette C Ossendorp,et al.  Cumulative risk assessment of pesticide residues in food. , 2008, Toxicology letters.

[32]  A. Heshmati,et al.  Simultaneous multi-determination of pesticide residues in black tea leaves and infusion: a risk assessment study , 2020, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[33]  M Schuhmacher,et al.  The use of Monte-Carlo simulation techniques for risk assessment: study of a municipal waste incinerator. , 2001, Chemosphere.

[34]  Elucidation of diazinon metabolites in rice plants by liquid ‎chromatography ion-trap mass spectrometry , 2018, International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry.

[35]  R. Arora,et al.  Estimation and risk assessment of flubendiamide on fodder berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) by QuEChERS methodology and LC-MS/MS , 2016, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[36]  Mirhadi Elaheh,et al.  An updated review on therapeutic effects of nanoparticle-based formulations of saffron components (safranal, crocin, and crocetin) , 2020 .

[37]  D. Akyıl,et al.  Pesticides, Environmental Pollution, and Health , 2016 .

[38]  D. Oulkar,et al.  Multiresidue Method for Targeted Screening of Pesticide Residues in Spice Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) by Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry. , 2017, Journal of AOAC International.