Monitoring of Positive List System on Residual Pesticides Analysis of Agricultural Products in Southwest of Korea

Abstract

Pesticide residues must be managed for food safety and regulations are being strengthened worldwide. In Korea, the Positive List System (PLS) was introduced to prevent the misuse and manage unregistered pesticides. The PLS is a system that applies 0.01 mg/kg to crops for which maximum residue limits is not set. A more stringent regulatory system could lead to an increase in agricultural products that exceed standards. Therefore it is necessary to confirm the change in the determination rate of agricultural products exceeding the previous pesticide residue standards. In terms of climate change, temperature increase and changes in precipitation patterns are the main pest and pathogen infection determinants. Complex interactions and climate variability will lead to more frequent spraying of pesticides and eventually affect consumer exposure at the end of the food chain. Therefore, we confirmed the relationship between temperature and precipitation, which are climate factors and pesticide residues. Agricultural products (n=5,560) distributed at wholesale market (SeoBu, GakHwa) in the southwest Korea were collected and 311 kind of residual pesticides were analyzed using GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS. This study could serve as basic data for pesticide residue prevention, management, control and monitoring in countries seeking to tighten pesticide standards.