Most fruit samples analyzed by the Thai Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-Pan) were found to have hazardous residues above the established safety limits, especially jujubes and oranges.
Thai-PAN’s coordinator, Prokchol Ousap, reported on Friday that the organization gathered 85 fruit samples including apples, dragon fruit, guava, jujubes, and oranges from both imports and local sources across 12 provinces such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Rayong between November 27 and December 11.
Prokchol explained that the fruits were subjected to multi-residue tests for 419 chemicals at the BVAQ Laboratory in Thailand, revealing that pesticide levels in all tested fruit types surpassed safety standards.
She also noted that fruits grown within the country were discovered to contain chlorpyrifos, a dangerous agricultural chemical that has been banned in Thailand as a Type 4 toxic substance since June 1, 2020, restricting its production, import, export, and possession.
The examination of jujube samples indicated that all 15 contained hazardous residues beyond the safety limits, with six samples showing high levels of chlorpyrifos.
In the case of oranges, only three out of 17 samples met the safety criteria, while the remaining 14 had excessive residue levels. Chlorpyrifos was found in four samples, including two imported mandarins from China and two locally grown from Phichit and Chiang Rai.
Regarding apples, 13 samples had detectable pesticide residues; however, only one of these surpassed the permissible limits, while four samples were completely free of residues. For guavas, ten samples exceeded safety limits, six were within acceptable bounds, and only one was found to be residue-free.
Testing on dragon fruit revealed that 15 out of 17 samples contained harmful chemical residues, with nine exceeding the acceptable limits, including one labeled as an organic product certified by the PGS (Participatory Guarantee System).
Prokchol announced that Thai-PAN plans to submit these findings to government authorities to reassess the standards of organic certification.
Similar residue issues were previously identified in October when Thai-PAN tested Shine Muscat grapes sold in Thailand, finding unsafe levels of residues.
