DIETARY RISK ASSESSMENT AND SURVEY OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN HERBAL DIETARY INGREDIENTS FROM INDIA COLLECTED BETWEEN 2017–2020

Pesticide usage is rampant, especially in developing countries, and poses a major safety concern for people. Pesticide levels are regulated in all countries by the respective FDAs due to safety concerns. In the study, products of five Indian plants which comprised 38% of the total volume of herbal products, which are exported from India, and are widely used as dietary ingredients were selected for screening for the presence of pesticides in these samples. A total of 1125 samples including raw material, dried aqueous extracts, and alcoholic extracts were collected over three years and subjected to pesticide analysis using a validated multi-residue method. Pesticide residues were not observed in aqueous extracts whereas 14.7% of raw materials and 5.9% of alcoholic extracts samples exceeded the current EU MRL for pesticide residues. Results from risk assessment indicate the possibility of adopting higher default maximum residue limits (MRLs) since the hazard quotient was less than one in the majority of the cases indicating no health risk. The study recommends manufacturers carry out hazard analysis taking agricultural practices and manufacturing process into consideration to ensure product safety and adherence to current regulations.