Human health risk assessment of pesticides in lettuce and spinach grown in urban backyard garden soils

Pesticide residues in lettuce and spinach could be a serious human health concern since the average per capita consumption per day of leafy salad vegetables is similar to 60 g. Here, we determined the leftover residues (LoR) of dimethoate, 2,4-D, glyphosate, and chlorothalonil in lettuce and spinach grown in three urban backyard soils to assess their potential human health hazards. Pesticide residues were extracted by QuEChERS method and quantified through LC-MS and LC-DAD. In most cases, residue levels in the vegetable samples were above the EU-MRLs. Soil organic carbon, silt, oxides of iron and aluminium negatively correlated (P < 0.05) with LoR of the pesticides while LoR positively correlated (P < 0.05) with contents of sand and clay, and pH. The estimated short-term intake (ESTI) values (mg kg(-1) day(-1)) for dimethoate, 2,4-D, glyphosate and chlorothalonil even at recommended doses in case of lettuce and spinach were 0.003-9.90 x 10(-3) and 0.005-37.10 x 10(-3) for adults and children, respectively, whereas the corresponding estimated daily intake (EDI) values were 0.007-9.58 x 10(-3) and 0.03-35.90 x 10(-3). Accordingly, the calculated values of non-cancer acute health hazard (aHI <100%) and hazard quotient (HQ <1) indicated that consumption of salad vegetables grown in soils spiked with pesticides at doses recommended in agriculture does not pose human health risks. On the other hand, both lettuce and spinach grown in soils at ten-fold higher concentrations of dimethoate or chlorothalonil exceeded the threshold limit of aHI (>100%) for children and HQ > 1 for both children and adults, suggesting their potential acute and chronic health hazards. The present study, for the first time, provides health awareness about the consumption of pesticide-contaminated leafy vegetables grown in urban backyard garden soils.

Automated summary

This study investigated the potential health risks of pesticide residues in lettuce and spinach grown in urban backyard soils. The findings suggest that pesticide residues may pose potential acute and chronic health hazards to humans.