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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (11): 4761-4770    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2026.07.019
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Residue dissipation, risk assessment, and removal of three typical fungicides on and in apples

Mingyu Liu1*, Yindi Di1*, Han Xu1, Kunyu Wang1, Tongtong Wang1, Xiaoli Liu1, Lingxi Han1, Xiuqi Sui2, Cong Liu2, Shenkun Liu3, Jiyun Nie1#

1 College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University/Laboratory of Quality & Safety Risk Assessment for Fruit (Qingdao), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/National Technology Centre for Whole Process Quality Control of FSEN Horticultural Products (Qingdao)/Qingdao Key Lab of Modern Agriculture Quality and Safety Engineering, Qingdao 266109, China

2 Yantai Modern Fruit Science Research Institute, Yantai 264003, China

3 Yantai Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Yantai 264003, China

 Highlights 
● A modified QuEChERS method with MWCNTs-COOH was developed for the determination of three typical fungicides.
● The half-lives of the three fungicides at three application doses ranged from 17.28 to 41.65 d.
● Chronic dietary risks associated with these residue concentrations were all within acceptable safety thresholds.
● Washing with 2% CH3COOH solution represents the most effective household approach for removing the fungicide residues on apples.
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摘要  

杀菌剂残留可能对苹果品质产生负面影响和对消费者健康造成风险。本研究建立了一种改良的QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS法用以同时检测苹果中3种典型杀菌剂(多菌灵、苯醚甲环唑和戊唑醇)残留,其检出限和定量限分别为0.03-0.78和0.08-1.69 μg/kg。在田间条件下,3种杀菌剂施用后在苹果中的消散均符合一级动力学方程,半衰期为17.3-41.7 d。在1.5倍推荐剂量下,3种杀菌剂的最终残留量均低于最大残留限量,但3.0倍和5.0倍推荐剂量处理的苹果,最终残留量有可能超标。这些最终残留量对我国各年龄/性别人群均无慢性膳食摄入风险,但多菌灵部分最终残留量对我国部分年龄/性别人群会有不可接受的急性膳食摄入风险。在5种苹果居家清洗方式中,2%乙酸溶液对3种杀菌剂在苹果表面的残留去除效果最好。本研究结果可为苹果上杀菌剂使用、残留监测、家庭清洗等提供参考。



Abstract  

Fungicide residues may have negative impacts on apple quality and pose risks to consumers’ health.  This study developed a modified QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of the residues of three typical fungicides (carbendazim, difenoconazole, and tebuconazole) in apples, with the limits of detection and quantification ranging from 0.03 to 0.78 μg kg–1 and 0.08 to 1.69 μg kg–1, respectively.  Under field condition, the dissipation of the three fungicides in treated apples followed first-order kinetics, with half-lives of 17.3–41.7 d.  The final residual concentrations presented no chronic dietary risks to all Chinese age/gender groups, whereas certain residue concentrations of carbendazim may lead to unacceptable acute dietary risks to some Chinese age/gender groups.  Among the five household washing methods, washing with 2% CH3COOH was the most efficient one at removing surface residues of the three fungicides on apples.  This study provides valuable insights for field application, residue monitoring, and household washing of the three fungicides on apples.

Keywords:  apple       typical fungicides        dissipation        risk assessment        household washing method  
Received: 30 December 2024   Accepted: 07 January 2026 Online: 17 July 2026  
Fund: 

This work was supported by the National Program for Quality and Safety Risk Assessment of Agricultural Products of China (GJFP20230210), the Shandong Key R&D Plan (Agricultural Variety Project), China (2022LZGCQY008), and the Scientific Research Foundation for High Level Talents of Qingdao Agricultural University, China (665-1120015).

About author:  #Correspondence Jiyun Nie, Tel: +86-532-58957740, Fax: +86-532-58957773, E-mail: jiyunnie@163.com * These authors contributed equally to this study.

Cite this article: 

Mingyu Liu, Yindi Di, Han Xu, Kunyu Wang, Tongtong Wang, Xiaoli Liu, Lingxi Han, Xiuqi Sui, Cong Liu, Shenkun Liu, Jiyun Nie. 2026.

Residue dissipation, risk assessment, and removal of three typical fungicides on and in apples . Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(11): 4761-4770.

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