Pesticide residues refer to trace amounts of pesticide precursors, toxic metabolites, degradation products, and impurities that remain in organisms, crops, soil, water bodies, and the atmosphere after a period of pesticide use without decomposition. Pesticides applied to crops, some of which adhere to the crops, while others are scattered in the soil, atmosphere, and water environment. Some of the remaining pesticides in the environment will be absorbed by plants. Residual pesticides are directly transmitted to humans and livestock through plant fruits or water, air, or through the environment and food chain. The pesticide residue remover can degrade pesticide residues on the surface of fruits and vegetables.

There are many reasons that can cause and affect pesticide residues, among which the properties of pesticides themselves, environmental factors, and the methods of pesticide use are the main factors affecting pesticide residues.

Pesticide properties and pesticide residues

Organic pesticides such as arsenic and mercury, which have been banned, remain in the environment and plant bodies due to the inability of their metabolites to degrade.

Organochlorine pesticides such as hexachlorocyclohexane and DDT, as well as their metabolites, have stable chemical properties and slow degradation in crops and the environment. They are also prone to accumulation in human and animal body fat. Therefore, although the toxicity of organochlorine pesticides and their metabolites is not high, their residual toxicity still exists.

Organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides have unstable chemical properties and are easily decomposed by external conditions after application. However, there are some highly toxic and highly toxic varieties in organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, such as Methamidophos, Chlorpyrifos, Chlorpyrifos, and Chlorpyrifos. If applied to vegetables with short growth periods and continuous harvesting, it is difficult to avoid poisoning in humans and animals due to excessive residue levels.

In addition, although some pesticides have low toxicity themselves, their production impurities or metabolite residues are relatively high, such as impurities and their metabolite ethylenethiourea, which are carcinogens produced during the production process of dithiocarbamate fungicides, impurities such as DDT in trichlorfon, and the main metabolites of carbofuran and 3-hydroxycarbofuran, such as carbendazim and carbendazim.

The intrinsic absorption, volatility, water solubility, and adsorption properties of pesticides directly affect their residues in surrounding environments such as plants, atmosphere, water, and soil. Environmental factors such as temperature, light, rainfall, soil acidity and organic matter content, vegetation conditions/microorganisms also affect the degradation rate of pesticides and pesticide residues to varying degrees.