Monitoring of pesticide residues in Egyptian fruits and vegetables during 1997.

A total of 2318 domestic samples of different types of fruits and vegetables were collected from eight Egyptian local markets in six different regions of the country. All samples were examined for residues of 54 pesticides, including organophosphorus, organonitrogen, organohalogen and certain pyrethroides. However, dithiocarbamates were analysed in only 318 samples. Overall, 81.5% of the samples had no detectable pesticide residues. Of the contaminated samples, 18.5% contained detectable residues and 1.9% exceeded their maximum residue limits (MRLs). Root and leafy vegetables showed the lowest contamination rates (1.9 and 4.7%, respectively), slightly exceeding the MRLs in leafy vegetables. However, fruit samples showed a slightly higher proportion of contamination than vegetables (29 and 14.3%, respectively). Fruit also exhibited a higher level of violation than vegetables (2.3 and 1.9%, respectively). The contamination and violation rates were lower than the percentages recorded in previous years' monitoring studies. Dicofol and dimethoate were the most frequently occurring pesticide residues at 5.1 and 5.0%, respectively. Dimethoate showed higher violation levels (0.69%). However, dicofol showed a slight violation rate (0.09%) which indicates good agricultural practices for dicofol use. Dithiocarbamates residues were found in 21 of the 318 samples analysed, which when expressed as a percentage contamination was 6.6%, and only one sample exceeded the MRL.