Pesticide residues in cereal crop grains in Poland in 2013

This paper presents the results of the audit on pesticide residues in cereal grains throughout Poland in 2013. The number of all samples of cereal grains was 380. Altogether 292 active substances of plant protection products were checked in the audit. Qualitative and quantative analyses were done according to Polish Standard PN-EN 15562:2008, using the LC-MS/MS technique. The methods (QuEChERS) is based on extraction of residues of plant protection products from a sample using acetonitrile. In the samples analyzed, 62 % of them did not contain any pesticide residues, 34 % of samples of cereal grains contained such residues but below the maximum residue limit, 3 % contained residues over the maximum limit, whereas 1 % of the samples contained illegal substances. The lowest amounts of pesticide residues were found in cereal grains coming from fields with cereal mixtures and in Avena grains, while the highest amounts were in Hordeum and Triticum grains. The substances found most often were fungicide residues. In northern and southern regions of Poland (Silesian, Pomeranian, and Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodeships), cereal grains with pesticide residues were much more common than in other regions of Poland.