To investigate the characteristics of pesticide residue contamination in commercially available vegetables in Shaanxi Province and assess the dietary risk of local residents through vegetable consumption.

Based on the monitoring data of 25 kinds of pesticide residues in 765 samples of 8 major categories of commercially available vegetables from 10 cities in Shaanxi Province from 2022 to 2024, the pesticide residue contamination was investigated from different aspects such as different pesticide varieties, different vegetable species, different regional distributions and utilization of multiple pesticides. Acute and chronic dietary intake risk assessment (DIRA) was conducted and the overall risk level was determined through the index of food safety (IFS).

The 23 kinds of pesticide residues were detected in vegetable samples, with an overall detection rate of 58.17% and an exceeding rate of 2.35%. Prohibited and restricted pesticides were detected in 24 samples, among which dimethoate, omethoate and phorate were found to exceed the maximum residue limits upon detection. The detection rate of individual indicators ranged from 0.13% to 25.49% and the exceeding rates ranged from 0.13% to 0.65%. Leafy vegetables (74.31%) had the highest detection rate and the co-use of multiple pesticides was the most prominent. Exceedance samples were found in leafy vegetables (4.74%), bulb vegetables (3.51%) and fruit vegetables(3.01%). The extreme values of detection in the Shannan region were relatively high and the Guanzhong region contributed 72.22% of the exceedance cases in the province. The percentage of acute reference dose (%ARfD) of omethoate was 399.67%, while the %ARfD and percentage of acceptable daily intake (%ADI) of the other evaluated pesticides were all less than 100%. The IFS of each individual pesticide was less than 1 and the mean index of food safety () of vegetables was less than 1.

The pesticide residues in commercially available vegetables in Shaanxi Province show a high detection rate and a low exceeding rate, and the phenomenon of multiple pesticide co-use in leafy vegetables is quite prominent. Except for omethoate, the acute and chronic dietary exposure risks of other pesticides are within acceptable limits. The overall safety risk of vegetables is controllable. The illegal use of prohibited and restricted pesticides and the acute dietary exposure risk of omethoate are the main factors affecting vegetable quality. The findings of this study may provide data support for refining local regulatory strategies and implementing dietary risk warnings for residents.