Dissipation of fluazinam in citrus groves and a risk assessment for its dietary intake

BACKGROUND Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops worldwide. Fluazinam is a fungicide that is used to control fungal diseases, and its dissipation and residue in citrus fruits should be studied. RESULTS A Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) procedure combined with gas chromatography with an electron capture detector (GC‐ECD) has been developed. The fortified recoveries ranged from 82.1% to 105.9%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 5.7%. Fluazinam dissipated relatively quickly following first‐order kinetics, with a half‐life of 8.5–9.5 days. The experiments on the terminal residue of fluazinam in citrus were conducted at six locations in China, and the risk quotient (RQ) method was applied to citrus fruits for dietary exposure risk assessment based on the terminal residue test. The RQs of fluazinam at three preharvest intervals (PHIs) (21, 28, and 35 days) were all less than 100%, which is an acceptable level for human consumption. The present study provides a reference for the establishment of maximum residue limit (MRL) for fluazinam in citrus. CONCLUSIONS The dissipation and residues of fluazinam in citrus were monitored. The half‐life of less than 10 days showed that fluazinam could degrade relatively easily in citrus. The risk assessment also indicated the intake safety of fluazinam in citrus. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry