Simultaneous Determination and Dietary Risk Assessment of 26 Pesticide Residues in Wheat Grain and Bran Using...

Evaluating the potential chronic health risks posed by pesticides to consumers is essential for ensuring food safety and protecting public health. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method coupled with modified QuEChERS extraction was developed to simultaneously determine 26 pesticide residues in wheat grain and bran. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile with 2% (v/v) acetic acid and cleaned up using C₁₈ sorbent. Method validation demonstrated excellent linearity, accuracy, and precision. When applied to 48 wheat grain and 24 bran samples collected from major wheat-growing regions in China, 12 and 21 pesticides were detected at concentrations ranging from <0.005 to 1.785 mg kg^-1 and <0.01 to 2.188 mg kg^-1, respectively. Chronic hazard quotients (HQc) and acute hazard quotients (HQa) for all pesticides for grain and bran were far below the safety threshold of 100%. These results indicate that pesticide residues in wheat grain and bran present negligible chronic dietary risks to consumers across all age groups.