Multiresidual analysis of pesticides in white table grapes using hyphenated chromatographic techniques: Compliance and risk assessment

Grapes are widely cultivated and consumed, requiring pesticide control to ensure consumer safety. Herein we report a simplified workflow for detecting 236 pesticides in white table grapes within the EU multi-annual control programme, along with chronic, acute and cumulative risk assessments. The method involved two complementary analytical platforms: low-pressure gas-chromatography (LP-GC) for volatile/semi-volatile pesticides and ultra-high-performance liquid-chromatography (UHPLC) for polar/thermally labile pesticides, both coupled to triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (QqQMS). The methods were validated in terms of linearity (correlation coefficients ≥0.998 for all analytes), extraction recovery (mean recoveries of 70–120% for >90% of pesticides), precision (intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations ≤20% for all validated concentrations), trueness (in the range 63–135%), and limit of quantification (ranging from 0.002 to 0.01 mg Kg -1 for LP-GC-QqQMS and from 0.002 to 0.05 mg Kg -1 for UHPLC-QqQMS). Analysis of 20 samples detected 23 pesticides, five of which exceeded MRLs. Risk assessment showed that parathion-methyl poses unacceptable chronic and acute risks (exceedance up to 234% and 193% respectively), especially for children under