Pesticide Residue 'Emergency' at Gyeonggi-do Distribution Hubs

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Residual pesticides have been detected in herbs such as rosemary distributed within Gyeonggi Province, prompting consumers to exercise special caution.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 3rd that it conducted safety inspections for residual pesticides on herbs distributed online, in large retail stores within the province, and wholesale markets. As a result, residual pesticides exceeding the standard limits were detected in six cases, urging herb-producing farms to strictly adhere to pesticide safety usage standards.

This inspection collected 55 samples of 11 herb items?including coriander, lemongrass, lemon balm, rosemary, apple mint, spearmint, basil, Thai basil, dill, oregano, and thyme?from January to June this year, investigating the presence of 341 types of residual pesticides.

The inspection results showed that pesticides such as etofenprox, lufenuron, paclobutrazol, penthiopyrad, etopropos, spiromesifen, iprodione, and flupyradifurone were detected above the standard limits in six cases involving coriander, rosemary, apple mint, spearmint, Thai basil, and dill.

Accordingly, the institute seized and disposed of agricultural products with residual pesticides exceeding the standards and notified related agencies such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Agricultural Products Quality Management Service of the inspection results.

Among the six items with pesticide levels exceeding the limits in this investigation, three items were subject to the uniform standard (0.01 mg/kg) under the Positive List System (PLS) for pesticide residues.

The PLS is a system that manages all pesticides not having domestic maximum residue limits at a non-detectable level of 0.01 mg/kg to strengthen agricultural product safety management. It has been applied to all agricultural products since January last year.

Oh Jo-gyo, director of the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment, stated, "Although pesticide safety usage education and promotion have been strengthened for general farms with the implementation of the PLS, it seems that herb-producing farms have not been adequately reached." He added, "Pesticide use is expected to increase during the rainy and hot summer seasons, so we will actively promote the PLS system to herb-producing farms and encourage strict compliance with pesticide safety usage standards for crops."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.