Evaluation of the current standard for pesticide residue limits in fruits in China

Abstract: Pesticide residues are one of the main hazard factors affecting the quality and safety of fruits, and the maximum residue limit (MRL) of pesticides is an important basis for the evaluation and supervi- sion of pesticide residues in food. China’s fruit pesticide maximum residue limit standard has under- gone a long-term development and improvement process, and GB 2763—2019 has just become the on- ly current effective standard for pesticide maximum residue limit in China. In order to fully grasp the current status of China’s fruit quality and safety standards, this article carefully sorted out the develop- ment process of China’s standards for pesticide maximum residue limit, introduced the basic situation of pesticide residue limit standards in fruits, compared the main changes between the new and old ver- sions of pesticide residue limit standards, summarized the standards regarding pesticides and MRLs for fruits, and elucidated the main features of pesticide residue limit standards in fruits in China. The cur- rent standard established 264 types of 9 persistent pesticides for fruits, including aldrin, DDT, dieldrin, toxaphen, HCH, chlordane, mirex, heptachlor, and idrin. There were 2046 maximum residue limits (MRL) for pesticides, of which 364 were temporary maximum residue limits (TMRL), 55 were extrane- ous maximum residue limits (EMRL) for persistent pesticides, and 44 low-risk pesticides including ba- cillus thuringiensis and pseudomonas fluorescens were exempted from establishing maximum residue limits. Divided by fruit species, there were the most provisions for pome fruits, including 371 MRLs for 201 pesticides, including 53 TMRLs and 9 EMRLs. Of the 371 MRLs, 89 were specified for large cate- gories, and 282 were specified for individual tree species, accounting for 75.8% of the total limits; next  was followed by berries and other small fruits, there were 377 MRLs for 183 pesticides, including 79 TMRLs and 9 EMRLs. Of the 377 MRLs, 63 were specified for berries and other small fruits, and 314 were specified for individual tree species, accounting for 83.3% of the total limit; for citrus fruits, there were 437 MRLs for 160 pesticides, including 77 TMRLs and 9 EMRLs. Of the 437 MRLs, 80 were specified for citrus fruits large categories, and 356 were specified for individual tree species, accounting for 81.5% of the total limit; for stone fruits, there were 286 MRLs for 144 pesticides, including 57 TM- RLs and 9 EMRLs. Of the 286 MRLs, 79 were prescribed for stone fruits large categories, and 207 were specified for single tree species, accounting for 72.4% of the total limit; for tropical and subtropi- cal fruits, there were 234 MRLs for 136 pesticides, including 32 TMRLs and 9 residue limits. Of the 234 MRLs, 49 were specified for stone fruits large categories, and 185 were specified for single tree species, accounting for 79.1% of the total limit; for melon fruits, there were 146 MRLs 130 pesticides, including 31 TMRLs and 9 residual limits. Among the 146 MRLs, 63 were uniformly regulated for large categories of melon fruits, and 83 were specified for individual types of melon fruits, accounting for 56.8% of the total limit; for dried fruits, there were 101 MRLs for 76 types of pesticides, including 17 TMRLs. Of the 101 MRLs, 4 were uniformly prescribed for the large categories of dried fruits, and 97 were specified for individual types of dried fruits, accounting for 96.0% of the total limit; For nuts, there were 94 MRLs for 72 pesticides, including 18 TMRLs and 1 remaining limit. Of the 94 MRLs, 37 were uniformly regulated for nut categories, and 54 were specified for individual nut, accounting for 57.4% of the total limit. By pesticide type, pesticides and fungicides were the most numerous, with 860 limits for 109 pesticides and 801 limits for 98 fungicides, followed by acaricides and herbicides, 198 pesticide limits for 18 pesticides and 109 pesticide limits for 23 pesticides, respectively. Again plant growth regulators and insecticides/acaricides, the nematicides, fumigants, molluscicides, and synergists were the minimal. The standard features of pesticide maximum residue limits in fruits in China were as follows: (1)At present, the number of restricted pesticides on fruits in China has steadily increased, cov- ering most pesticides allowed in production: Compared with the 2016 edition, the 2019 edition of GB 2763 increased the number of pesticides with maximum residue limits on fruits by 40, and the current 264 kinds of pesticides plus 44 low-risk pesticides exempted cover most pesticides approved for use in fruit production in China, alleviating the problem of“no standard to rely on”pesticide registration. (2) The number of maximum residue limit standards specific to fruit species had an absolute advantage, which had changed the situation in the past when the major classification of large fruits was limited: The number of limit standards for specific types of fruits was increasing. In view of the 2019 version of GB 2763 for single-type fruits, the number of limit was 1 578, accounting for 77.1% of the total limit of 2 046, which has changed the situation in the past to mainly implement the classification of large fruits, making the limit standard more reasonable. (3) The number of maximum residue limit standards has in- creased significantly, solving the problem of‘no farm chemical available and no standard to rely on’for some fruits: Compared with the 2016 version, the GB 2763 version of 2019 significantly increased the fruits, especially jujube, bayberry and other special small fruits. The number of pesticide MRLs has increased from 1 253 to 2 046, currently accounting for 28.8% of the total food limit, which solved the status of“no farm chemical available and no standard to rely on”like specialty small fruits. (4) The monitoring definitions and ADI values of some pesticide residues were revised to make dietary risk as- sessment data more reliable: the monitoring definitions and expressions of five pesticide residues relat- ed to fruits were revised, such as avermectin, prothioconazole and so forth, and the ADI values of 11 pesticides were also revised, such as bacteriocin, prothioconazole and so on, which made dietary risk as-sessment data for these pesticides more reliable.