Occurrence of pesticide residues in selected agricultural food commodities available in Canada.

During the 27-month period between January 1, 1992, and March 31, 1994, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada analyzed 21,982 samples of fruit and vegetable commodities for pesticide residues. A multiresidue method capable of detecting over 200 analytes was used. In 5784 domestic samples a total of 676 residue findings were made. Of these, 32 (0.55%) were in violation of Canadian maximum residue limits (MRLs). In 16,198 imported products, 464 of 3193 residue findings exceeded MRLs, corresponding to a violation rate of 2.86%. One-half of domestic violations resulted from commodity-pesticide combinations for which there are no Canadian approvals.