Glyphosate residues in Swiss market foods: monitoring and risk evaluation

A total of 243 samples of diverse foodstuffs were analysed for glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) using a liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method with a relatively low limit of quantification in the range of 0.0005–0.0025 mg kg−1. Main contributors for dietary glyphosate and AMPA intake were cereals and pulses. The results suggest that pasta is a very important foodstuff for dietary glyphosate residue intake in Switzerland. Interestingly all samples of wine, fruit juice and nearly all samples of honey tested positive for glyphosate although at very low levels. A dietary risk assessment was conducted. Food products for analysis were not selected purely at random, rather products were selected for which high levels of glyphosate residues were suspected. However, even in samples where high residue levels were expected, no exceedances of maximum residue levels were found. Consequently, human exposure did not exceed neither acceptable daily intake nor acute reference dose. Therefore, glyphosate residues found in the sampled foodstuffs from the Swiss market were of no concern for human health.

本研究采用定量范围为0.0005~0.0025 mg·kg⁻¹的低定量限（limit of quantification）液相色谱三重四极杆质谱法（liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry，LC/MS/MS），对243份不同品类食品样品中的草甘膦（glyphosate）与氨甲基膦酸（aminomethylphosphonic acid，AMPA）进行了检测分析。膳食中草甘膦与AMPA的主要摄入来源为谷物与豆类作物。结果显示，在瑞士，意面是膳食草甘膦残留摄入的关键食品品类之一。值得注意的是，所有酒类、果汁样品以及几乎所有蜂蜜样品均检出草甘膦残留，不过残留水平极低。本研究同步开展了膳食风险评估。本次分析的食品样品并非完全随机抽取，而是针对疑似存在高草甘膦残留的产品进行选取。即便在预期残留水平较高的样品中，也未发现超过最大残留限量（maximum residue levels）的情况。因此，人体的草甘膦暴露量既未超出每日允许摄入量（acceptable daily intake），也未超出急性参考剂量（acute reference dose）。综上，瑞士市场在售抽样食品中检出的草甘膦残留不会对人体健康造成危害。