Pesticide residues in black tea

An investigation of residues of organochlorine and organophosphorous pesticides, as well as of a number of fungicides and of inorganic bromide in 99 samples of black tea taken on the Danish market is reported. The type of pesticide residues involved appear to be very uniform within each country of origin, whereas there are distinct differences between individual countries. Tea from Sri Lanka seems to contain less and fewer residues than tea from the other big tea producing countries. A great many of the samples contained alpha-HCH, lindane and DDT. The use of alpha-HCH and DDT is prohibited in Denmark. Only few other pesticides were detected and at a much lower frequency. None of the teas contained residues that may be regarded as being injurious to health.