Mohammadali Mirhosseini

Greenhouse products are subject to contamination by pesticides used to control pests and diseases. Toxicity on human and non-target animals, destruction of environment, and bioaccumulation are just some of the problems caused by indiscriminate use of pesticides. Imidacloprid and abamectin are two widely used pesticides to control greenhouse pests in Varamin region (Tehran Province, Iran). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of some household operations including refrigerated storage (48 hours), immersion in water (5 hours) and combination of these two treatments on reduction of pesticide residues in two most freshly consumed vegetables, cucumber and tomato. Sampling was performed in three randomly selected greenhouses of each crop in Varamin. Pesticides residue were extracted from samples according to QuEChERS method and determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system equipped with UV detection and analytical column C18 (250×4.6 mm). Results showed that crops were contaminated more than maximum residue level of these pesticides. Although in most cases, refrigerated storage treatment reduced pesticides residue more than immersion in water, their combination was the most effective treatment. Based on the results, this treatment caused imidacloprid residues reduction of 91.3 and 60.2% and abamectin residues reduction of 81.4 and 70.3% in cucumber and tomato, respectively. These findings showed that some easy, accessible, and domestic solutions can dramatically reduce residues of these two common pesticides.