Tests show high levels of pesticide in fruit

Yet one sample of lion fruit that was qualified natural contained dangerous residues.

The Thai Pesticide Alert Network ( Thai-Pan ) randomly tested fruit samples that contained dangerous residues that were above the safety standard, particularly jujubes and oranges.

Thai-PAN representative Prokchol Ousap said on Friday that the system collected 85 specimens of grapes, lion fruit, guava, jujubes and oranges, both imported and internally grown, from supermarkets and new markets across 12 provinces, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Rayong from Nov 27 to Dec 11.

She claimed that 419 substances were tested for multi-residue at BVAQ Laboratory in Thailand. She claimed that the study revealed chemical residues that exceeded the safety standard for all fruit types tested.

Also, internally grown fruits were found to contain chlorpyrifos, a dangerous agricultural chemistry that Thailand banned as a Type 4 toxic element, prohibiting its creation, import, export and possession since June 1, 2020, she said.

The results revealed that six tests containing chlorpyrifos at high levels, and that all 15 fruit samples had toxic residues that exceeded the health standard.

For the oranges, three out of the 17 samples had residues within safe limits, while 14 exceeded the safety standard.

Notably, chlorpyrifos was found in four samples, including two domestically grown from Phichit and Chiang Rai and two imported mandarins from China.

In terms of apples, the results revealed that only four samples had pesticide residues, and only one had residues that exceeded the accepted standards. For guava, only one sample was residue-free, while six were within safe limits, and 10 had residues that exceeded the standard.

Two samples had no chemical residue, whereas 15 had toxic residues, of which nine had residues greater than the standard value, including one that had been identified as an organic product with a PGS ( Participatory Guarantee System ) certificate.

According to Ms. Prokchol, Thai-PAN will send the findings to the appropriate government authorities for their analysis of the organic certification standard.

Similar tests were conducted by Thai-PAN in October on Shine Muscat grapes sold in Thailand, and the results were comparable and showed unsafe residue levels.