PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN FOOD: FOOD SAFETY, NUTRITION AND HEALTH EFFECTS

Pesticides are chemical substances which used to ensure high crop yields. From year to year the sales of plant protection products (fungicides, herbicides, insecticides) in agriculture are increasing. The use of pesticides during production often leads to the presence of pesticide residues in fruit after and during harvest. Exposure to food pesticide residues through the diet can negatively affect the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system and respiratory system. For these reasons, monitoring the presence of pesticides in food is of great importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the residues of pesticides in apples from Resen. The UPLC-TQ/MS method was used for determining pesticide residues. The pesticide residue is extracted with QuEChERS. From the total number of samples, it was noted that in the apples from the Evla location, the most abundant pesticide is chlorpyrifos with 20 %, then pyrimethanil and dimethoate with 13.33 %, in comparison with other pesticides etc. In apples from the Kriveni location, the most common pesticides are tebuconazole and omethoate with 13.16% in comparison with other pesticides. The permissible pesticide residue level in foods is an important criterion for food safety. Future longer term studies are required in this area and would help attain a deeper knowledge about the fruit production with respect to the use of pesticides and their presence in samples. Keywords: pesticides, chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, apples