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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agro-Food Safety
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1575428
Occurrence and risk assessment of organochlorine pesticide residues in tea and herbal products in Spain
Provisionally accepted
Raquel Díez Laiz 
Cristina López Cadenas *
Jose Manuel Rodriguez Lago 
Raúl De La Puente 
Beatriz Romero 
E. Milena Vazquez 
M. Jose Diez Liebana 
Nelida Fernandez 
Ana M. Sahagun - Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, León, Spain
Organochlorine pesticides (OCP) are persistent pollutants well known for their ability to bioaccumulate. So, food contamination with these compounds is of concern for human health. The levels of 9 OCP were determined in 60 samples of black tea and two herbal products (chamomile and linden) commercially available in Spain. The analysis was carried out by gas chromatography coupled with electron capture detector (GC-ECD), and confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The linearity, accuracy, precision, and limits of quantification and detection of the method were validated. OCP residues were detected in 66.7 % of the samples at low levels, being always below the European maximum residue limits (MRL). No OCP was found in black tea samples, and only 4 pesticides were present in linden and chamomile products: 2,4'-DDD was the most frequently OCP detected, followed by aldrin, endrin and 4,4'-DDD. The health risk assessment indicated that the presence of OCP in black tea and the two herbal products does not pose any risk to consumers
Keywords: Black Tea, Chamomile, Food contaminant, Linden, organochlorine, pesticide, Risk Assessment, Spain
Received: 13 Feb 2025; Accepted: 02 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Díez Laiz, López Cadenas, Rodriguez Lago, De La Puente, Romero, Vazquez, Diez Liebana, Fernandez and Sahagun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Cristina López Cadenas, Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, León, 24071, Spain
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