Evaluation of Pesticide Monitoring Data with regard to Cumulative Residues

Conclusion,The occurrence of cumulative residues was more pronounced in samples from targeted projectsthan in monitoring samples.For sweet peppers, the comparison between single unit and composite sample analysesrevealed no significant differences. Cumulative residues were not the consequence of "mixedlots" but rather resulted from multiple pesticide applications in the country of origin.Up to 25 % of the samples of citrus, pears, peaches, grapes, berries, tomatoes, peppers, lettuceand tea contained at least two pesticides from the same common mechanism group.Only few samples of apples, strawberries, most vegetables, potatoes and cereal grainscontained more than one pesticide from the same common mechanism group.First quantitative evaluations of the residue level revealed that < 1 % of the findings were = LOQ.The uptake of quantifiable residues of more than one OP at a time seems to be highly unlikely forthis example (OPs in peppers)