Analysis of exposure to pesticide residues from Traditional Chinese Medicine

[Display omitted] •Pesticide contamination was tested in three common TCMs using QuEChERS-UPLC-MS/MS.•94.57% of samples contained pesticides, and >83.17% contained 4–15 different residues.•Carbendazim was most abundant, followed by procymidone, pendimethalin and phoxim.•HQ/HI indices confirmed that exposure was far below levels posing a health risk.•Insecticides contributed to cumulative exposure, and banned pesticides were detected. The safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is of concern worldwide. Herein, Paeoniae Radix Alba, Chaenomelis Fructus and Moutan Cortex, representing three medicinal components, were subjected to toxicological analysis to investigate possible pesticide contamination. Exposure using a point estimate model identified 47 residues that were simultaneously validated by the QuEChERS-UPLC-MS/MS method, which is sufficiently reliable for measuring residue concentrations. Of the 313 samples tested, 94.57% contained pesticide residues, with concentrations ranging from 0.10 to 1199.84 μg kg−1, of which >83.17% contained 4–15 different residues. Carbendazim was the most frequently detected pesticide (>85%), and procymidone, pendimethalin and phoxim were also abundant (median concentration = 15.33–623.12 μg kg−1). Risk assessment based on the hazard quotient/hazard index (HQ/HI) approach revealed that exposure to pesticide residues in all three TCMs (95th percentile) were far below levels that might pose a health risk. However, insecticides contributed to cumulative exposure, especially phoxim, and worryingly, several banned pesticides were detected. The results are of theoretical and practical value for evaluating the safety TCMs, and could improve their quality and safety.