Carbendazim residue in plant-based foods in China: Consecutive surveys from 2011 to 2020

Dou Wang; Guiling Yang; Xiao Yun; Ting Luo; Hao Guo; Liying Pan; Wei Du; Yanhua Wang; Qiang Wang; Pu Wang; Qinghua Zhang; Yun Li; Nan Lin

doi:10.1016/j.ese.2023.100301

Carbendazim residue in plant-based foods in China: Consecutive surveys from 2011 to 2020

Environ Sci Ecotechnol. 2023 Jul 11:17:100301. doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2023.100301. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Dou Wang¹, Guiling Yang¹, Xiao Yun², Ting Luo¹, Hao Guo¹, Liying Pan¹, Wei Du³, Yanhua Wang¹, Qiang Wang¹, Pu Wang⁴, Qinghua Zhang⁵, Yun Li⁶, Nan Lin⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Laboratory (Hangzhou) for Risk Assessment of Agricultural Products of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Agro-product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, Zhejiang, China.
² College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
³ Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil Carbon Sequestration and Pollution Control, Faculty of Environmental Science & Engineering, Kunming University of Science &Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
⁴ Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Fume and Dust Pollution Control, School of Environment and Health, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Agro-Product Quality and Safety of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Quality Standards and Testing Technology for Agro-Products, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
⁷ Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200025, China.

Abstract

Carbendazim, a widely used fungicide in China, has been found to have reproductive toxicity and mutagenic effects. However, information on the spatial-temporal variations of carbendazim residues in food in China is limited. Here, we investigated the presence of carbendazim in China's plant-based foods from 2011 to 2020, evaluated the spatial-temporal characteristics, and assessed the associated exposure risks in the Chinese diet. The results revealed a high detection frequency of carbendazim in fruits (26.4%) and high concentrations in vegetables (∼110 mg kg^-1), indicating widespread misuse of the fungicide. The acute risks of consuming certain vegetables and cereals exceeded the recommended limits by up to 12 and 5 times, respectively. Although there has been a decline in carbendazim residue levels in food since the implementation of the Chinese government's action plan for zero growth of pesticide use in 2015, some provinces still exhibited high levels of carbendazim in multiple food categories, which were positively correlated with annual pesticide application. We highlight that carbendazim contamination reflects the broader issue of pesticide use in China. It emphasizes the need for committed and targeted national policies to reduce carbendazim residues in food and suggests that such measures could also regulate the use of other pesticides, given that pesticide abuse in China is not limited to specific types. We call for the re-evaluation of maximum residue limits of carbendazim, particularly in highly consumed foods such as cereals.

Keywords: Carbendazim; China; Exposure and risk assessment; Plant-based foods; Spatial-temporal variations.