Evaluation of organophosphorus pesticide diazinon residues in greenhouse crops (Case study: Zucchini)

Today, food security is one of important issues of consumers of agricultural products. Therefore, this study was carried out for evaluation of organophosphorus pesticide diazinon residues in zucchini as a greenhouse crop.
In this study, totally 10 specimen of zucchini were collected from greenhouses and market basket of Hamadan city. After cutting the samples and then added with acetone, the solution was filtered. Then added sodium sulfate and dichloromethane to filtered solution, we attempted to separate the lower phase. The lower phase is evaporated in the oven until was set at 2 ml. Finally diazinon residues in samples determined using a spectrophotometric method in 3 replications. The statistical calculations were done using SPSS version 18.0 statistical package.
Findings: Theresults showed that the average concentration of diazinon residues in samples were 0.105±0.006, 0.093±0.003, 0.149±0.013, 0.159±0.027, 0.151±0.013, 0.147±0.018, 0.119±0.006, 0.171±0.013, 0.157±0.018, 0.140±0.027 mg kg-1, respectively and more than the maximum residue limit provided by the Codex alimentarius and the European Commission. The results of the comparison of the mean concentration of pesticide residues between samples revealed significant differences between all the samples together (pDiscussion and According to the results, the average concentrations of diazinon residues in zucchini exceeding the maximum residue limit provided by Codex Alimentarius Commission and the European Commission. Therefore, education of farmers for optimal agricultural inputs usage, especially pesticides is recommended.