Pesticides Contamination of Cereals and Legumes: Monitoring of Samples Marketed in Italy as a Contribution to Risk Assessment

The evaluation of cereal-based product contamination by pesticide residues is a topic worldwide importance, and reliable analytical methods for official check analyses monitoring studies are required multi-residue analysis at trace levels. In this work, validated multi-residual method gas-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry coupled with rapid QuEChERS procedure was used the determination 37 pesticides (pyrethroids, organophosphorus organochlorine compounds) in 209 commercially available samples cereals 11 legumes, placed on Italian market 2018 2019, coming from different regions Italy, eastern Europe, some non-European countries. No traces were observed analyzed legume samples. A total 18 cereal found to be contaminated least one pesticide, concentration level higher than corresponding quantification limit, but never exceeding maximum fixed European Regulations. This work first part surveillance study control food