Risks of already banned pesticides in Eruca sativa

Objective: Eruca sativa (rocket salad) is consumed all over the world. This vegetable is usually consumed fresh and it is described as containing several health promoting agents. Due to their importance in a healthy diet, the aim of this study was to assess if this vegetable are exposed to chemicals such as organochlorine pesticides (OCP). Methodology: Rocket salad packed samples were bought from three supermarket brands and OCPs were evaluated, using the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Ef fective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS). A methodology were optimized for the determination of 13 OCPs using gas chromatography coupled with electron-capture detector (GC-ECD) and the confirmations were made using GC tandem mass-spectrometr y (GC-MS/MS). Results: For the QuEChERS methodology optimization different amounts of sample and type QuEChERS were tested in order to improve the recoveries of the analytes. Due to the green vegetables such as rocket salad present pigments (chlorophyll) it is required the use of a clean-up containing graphitized carbon prior to GC analysis. Precision of the method was measured using rocket salad samples spiked at the levels of 40, 60 and 80 μg/kg. Satisfactory recoveries (from 55 to 149 %) were obtained with a relative standard deviation of ≤11%. The LOD values ranged from 0.9 to 3.5 μg/kg and LOQ values ranged from 3 to 11.6 μg/kg, the analysis obtained by GC-ECD shown 3 OCPs with concentrations above the LOQ values. After the confirmation by the GC-MS only β-HCH was confirmed to be present in levels above the EU maximum residue limited (MRL) in one of the samples of rocket salad with the concentration of 16.21 μg/kg. Conclusion: The existence of OCPs in vegetables is an alert for a campaign of surveillance should be established. Although it has been banned the use of OCPs for some years ago, the presence of these pesticides remains a reality today. These results highlight the importance of monitoring the presence of OCPs in food.