ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Long-Term Investigation and Health
Risk Assessment of Multi-class Fungicide
Residues in Fruits
Bożena Łozowicka, Izabela Hrynko, Piotr Kaczyński,
Magdalena Jankowska, Ewa Rutkowska
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Plant Protection Institute – National Research Institute, Laboratory of Pesticide Residues,
Chelmonskiego 22, 15-195 Bialystok, Poland
Submission date: 2015-10-15
Final revision date: 2015-12-23
Acceptance date: 2015-12-23
Publication date: 2016-03-17
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2016;25(2):681-697
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ABSTRACT
Fungicides are chemicals designed against fungi that are widely used in protection of fruits all over the
world, for better quality and safety. These chemicals have been intensively used to protect Polish fruits for
many years. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the fungicide residues monitored by chromatography
and spectrophotometry in fruits in 2005-14 and health risk assessment. Fruits (974 samples) were
analyzed for the presence of over 70 fungicides. Currants (68.5% of samples), apples (63.3%), and cherries
(54.6%) were the fruits with residues found most frequently. Dithiocarbamates (27.4%) and captan (26.3%)
were the most often detected. The highest concentrations were noted for boscalid and captan, ranging from
2.83 mg/kg (cherry) to 3.31 mg/kg (currant). The risk assessments involving hazards for human health were
performed because of fungicide toxicity. The results of this investigation show how important it is to control
fungicide residues in fruit, which require frequent chemical treatment for fungal diseases, to guarantee food
quality and safety.