ENIVRONMENT ASIA

Volume 13, No. 03, Month SEPTEMBER, Year 2020, Pages 61 - 69

Monitoring of carbamate insecticide residues in cucumbers produced from conventional and greenhouse farming systems

Pantip Hinhumpatch and Wandee Wattanachaiyingcharoen

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The study was designed to investigate carbamate insecticide residues in cucumbers and soil from two diff erent farming systems located in Phitsanulok, Thailand.Ten carbamate insecticides were analyzed using the quick easy cheap eff ective rugged and safe (QuEChERS) multi-residue extraction, followed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-fl ight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF-MS). The results showed the level of insecticide residues detected in cucumbers and soil from greenhouse farming, were at a lower level than those of conventional farming. Conventionally-farmed cucumbers contain methiocarb, methomyl, aldicarb sulfoxide, carbofuran and carbofuran-3-hydroxy ranging from 0.437 to 1.721 mg/kg, which exceeds Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs), whereas greenhouse-farmed cucumbers contain less insecticide residue which ranges from 0.132 to 0.439 mg/kg. The diff erence in the distribution patterns of insecticides in cucumbers and soil was detected from the study samples collected at a conventional farm. The level of methiocarb contained in cucumbers and the level of methomyl contained in soil from conventional farming were signifi cantly higher than that of insecticide levels in greenhouse farming by approximately 13-fold (p ˂ 0.05) and 3-fold (p ˂ 0.05), receptively. Our results suggested that residue of CIs contained in cucumbers and soil is aff ected by the two diff erent farming systems. The reduction of insecticide use needs to be enhanced within agriculture, and the routine monitoring of them is necessary to increase public awareness of food safety and the reduction of health risks associated with contaminated foods and the environment.

Keywords

Carbamate; Insecticide; Cucumber; Greenhouse farming; Conventional farming

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