Impact of broad-spectrum pesticides used in the agricultural and forestry sector on the pesticide profile in wild boar, roe deer and deer and risk assessment for venison consumers

The present work is the first extensive study of large-scale pesticides research in wild animals. The investigation covered three game species: wild boar (n = 42), roe deer (n = 79) and deer (n = 15) collected from north-eastern Poland. To characterize the 480 pesticides in muscle samples, LC-GC–MS/MS techniques were used. A total of 28 compounds were detected: 5 neonicotinoids, 6 organochlorine and 5 other insecticides, 9 fungicides and 4 herbicides, in the range of 0.1–85.3 ng g−1. Over four hundred detections were done. The highest mean concentrations were as follows: anthraquinone (85.3 ng g−1) > DDT-p,p’ (4.6 ng g−1) > imidacloprid (4.3 ng g−1) > permethrin (3.6 ng g−1) > thiacloprid (2.8 ng g−1). DDT and metabolites were the most frequently detected, followed by acetamiprid, tebuconazole, clothianidin and imidacloprid. Overall, 92% samples with residues were recorded, including 100% of wild boar, 88% of roe deer and 86% of deer. More than one pesticide (up to 9) was found in over 73% of the tested samples. The estimated chronic and acute risk to consumers of venison were very low (below 1% ADI and ARfD). This interdisciplinary study may be helpful for estimating ecological risk to wild animals and risk to consumers of wild animal products, and also as a source of biomonitoring data. [Display omitted] •The presence of pesticides in the meat tissue of wild boar, roe deer and deer was studied.•Pesticides were confirmed in 93% of tested samples.•75% of tested samples contained more than one pesticide (up to 9).•Out of 460 tested pesticides, 28 were detected, of which 15 are prohibited.•The risk for consumers from pesticides through the consumption of wild animals is low.