Measurement of permethrin, deltamethrin and malathion pesticide residues in the wheat flour and breads and probabilistic health risk assessment: a case study in Kermanshah, Iran

This study was conducted to investigate the residues of pyrethroid and organophosphorus pesticide in flour and breads which were collected from local markets in Kermanshah province, Iran. Four different types of breads and two types of flour samples with high distribution were taken from market and their residues of pesticides were measured. A simple dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) method with solidification of floating organic drop was developed for the measurement. The health risk of these pesticides on adults and children health was assessed by target hazard quotient (THQ) using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. About, 15% and 11.1% of total samples contained detectable levels of deltamethrin and malathion, respectively. None of the tested samples showed any permethrin residue. The results from all samples showed that none of the pesticides exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRLs). About 85% of pesticide residue detections were observed in tropical and mild weather area which is due to high consumption rate of insecticides in these areas. The percentile 95% of THQ is due to bread ingestion content of deltamethrin which was 0.033 and 0.070 for the adults and children, respectively, while this value for malathion was found to be, 0.015 and 0.030, respectively. In the adults and children for both deltamethrin and malathion, the percentile 95% of THQ value were lower than 1 (acceptable level). The non-carcinogenic health risk assessment indicated that bread consumers in Kermanshah province are not at a considerable risk because of deltamethrin and malathion.