Chinese Researchers Have Established a Database for Detecting Pesticide Residues in Food

The team led by Pang Guofang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the China Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Sciences, has conducted research on more than 1,200 commonly used pesticides and chemical pollutants worldwide. They have achieved original breakthroughs in three areas: high-resolution mass spectrometry combined with the internet and data science, and the development of multi-dimensional fusion technology for geographic information systems. This has enabled the informatization of pesticide residue monitoring technology, the intelligent processing of monitoring big data, and the visualization of risk tracing, reaching world-class levels.

With the support of these multi-dimensional fusion technologies, a preliminary database of pesticide residue monitoring results in my country has been established, providing a comprehensive overview of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables sold in 31 provincial capitals and municipalities. "This will significantly improve my country's food safety situation," Pang Guofang told the reporter. "This work is not just about food safety; it also relates to national prosperity, public safety, and the country's image."

Each pesticide has an electronic ID card.

Practice has proven that pesticides play a crucial role in protecting crop growth, increasing crop yields, and ensuring the quality of stored agricultural products. However, due to their biological activity, the impact of pesticide residues on food safety and the ecological environment is unavoidable, making pesticides a subject of much criticism.

In fact, China is not the only country using pesticides; the EU, the US, Japan, and other countries also use them. Comparatively, they have all established relatively comprehensive laws and regulations and residue monitoring systems, and have set maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides in agricultural products.

It is understood that MRLs are food safety standards, a threshold for international trade imports and exports, and a crucial standard in food safety monitoring systems.

Pang Guofang explained that the EU, the US, and Japan have currently established 162,248, 39,147, and 51,600 MRL standards for pesticides, respectively. In June of this year, my country published a new version of the "National Food Safety Standard—Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food," but it only specifies 4,140 MRL standards for 433 pesticides in food.

As a major agricultural country, my country has one of the highest pesticide production and consumption rates in the world. Data shows that from 2000 to 2015, my country's chemical pesticide technical production increased from 600,000 tons/year to 3.74 million tons/year, and pesticide chemical pollutants have become one of the main sources of food safety pollution.

A study by Pang Guofang's team found that the risk of pesticide residues in my country's food supply remains significant, with highly toxic and banned pesticides still being detected. "my country has not yet established a residue monitoring system backed by strict and systematic laws and regulations."

As a crucial supporting technology for pesticide residue monitoring systems, the scientific validity and operability of monitoring methods are considered the cornerstone and guarantee for the effective operation of these systems.

It is reported that the pesticide residue monitoring systems in the EU, the US, and Japan currently primarily employ gas chromatography and liquid chromatography, as well as low-resolution mass spectrometry. In recent years, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HDMS), a type of mass spectrometry technology, has gradually become a development direction for non-targeted screening of pesticide residues, and its application has increased significantly. Common HDMS techniques include Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-CMS) and quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QFMS). Building upon this foundation, they established a unique electronic ID for each of over 1200 pesticides and chemical pollutants, enabling pesticide residue detection. This replaces the traditional method of using physical pesticide standards as a reference with electronic standards, achieving a leap from targeted detection to non-targeted screening.

"Its detection capabilities far exceed the current pesticide residue monitoring technologies of the EU, the US, and Japan, thus greatly improving the quality and safety assurance of agricultural products," Pang Guofang told the reporter.

It is understood that this new technology covers 18 categories and 150 types of fruits and vegetables, 85% of which are listed in the national maximum residue limit standards for pesticides, closely reflecting the true market situation in accordance with national standards.

Pesticide residue reports can be downloaded with a single click.

However, problems arise. Given the highly digitized, information-based, and electronic nature of non-targeted pesticide residue detection technology, massive amounts of analytical data are generated, posing a challenge to traditional data statistical analysis methods. There is an urgent need to establish a new system for the collection, transmission, statistics, and intelligent analysis of big data.

Pang Guofang's team, addressing the current challenges in analyzing pesticide residue detection data in food—such as the complexity of data dimensions, intricate relationships, and high analytical requirements—has made several innovative contributions based on in-depth analysis of pesticide residue detection data characteristics and analytical needs. These contributions provide standardized criteria for determining pesticide residue detection results.

For example, they solved key technologies for the associated storage and retrieval of data related to "multiple countries' maximum residue limits—agricultural product classification—characteristics of over a thousand pesticides"; proposed a multi-dimensional cross-analysis method for pesticide residue detection data, a comprehensive evaluation and early warning model for pesticide residue pollution; and established four major basic databases, including multiple countries' maximum residue limits, enabling the associated storage, retrieval, and access of basic pesticide residue data.

Simultaneously, Pang Guofang's team independently developed a pesticide residue data acquisition system and constructed a pesticide residue detection result database.

"We proposed a data fusion and processing model of 'data acquisition—information supplementation—derivative merging—banned pesticide treatment—pollution level determination,' enabling rapid online acquisition and fusion of pesticide multi-residue detection result data," Pang Guofang told the reporter.

Subsequently, by referencing the precise determination of pesticide residue limits in multiple countries, the system dynamically adds and updates the pesticide residue detection results database in real time, providing scientific data support for national food safety decision-making.

It is worth mentioning that Pang Guofang's team independently developed intelligent analysis software for massive pesticide residue data. This software automatically compiles statistics on 20 pesticide residue indicators from multiple dimensions, including agricultural products, pesticides, regions, and maximum pesticide residue limits in multiple countries, and automatically generates 5 reports. It also automatically generates comprehensive evaluations and early warning information based on the statistical results, ultimately achieving "one-click download."

Pang Guofang explained that a comprehensive pesticide residue detection report with illustrations can be automatically generated in 30 minutes, greatly improving the accuracy of the reports. "Its production efficiency is unimaginable with traditional analysis methods, providing an effective tool for national pesticide residue big data analysis."

Risk tracing is like weather forecasting

What is the purpose of pesticide residue detection? "Pesticide residue detection is to achieve risk tracing," Pang Guofang stated. Through the fusion technology of high-resolution mass spectrometry, the Internet, and geographic information systems, video-based pesticide residue risk tracing can be achieved. The specific operation involves linking pesticide residue data with geographic data, resulting in a new application of maps driven by pesticide residue data. Its core technologies include: first, expressing crop pesticide residue characteristics at multiple spatial resolutions—national, provincial, and municipal levels; second, statistically analyzing and mapping various pesticide residue characteristics according to different agricultural product types; third, reflecting the spatial distribution characteristics and quantitative indicators of various pesticide residues across crop types; and fourth, displaying pesticide residue exceedances by region and agricultural product type, referencing the maximum residue limits standards of China, the EU, Japan, and other countries.

"Using the integration of multiple technologies, we designed and compiled a visualization system for multi-dimensional spatial characteristics such as target pesticides, food names, and food origins," said Pang Guofang.

Currently, two products have been developed: a "Map Atlas of Pesticide Residue Levels in Fruits and Vegetables Sold in 31 Provincial Capitals/Municipalities" and an "Online Mapping System for Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables Sold in 31 Provincial Capitals/Municipalities." Regarding the latter, Pang Guofang vividly explained that it allows for online forecasting of pesticide residues, much like weather forecasting, enabling proactive food safety supervision and a focus on prevention.

In Pang Guofang's view, this achieves "smart, unified map" management of the three key aspects of pesticide residue detection, traceability, and early warning, providing scientific data support based on spatial visualization for industry self-regulation, government oversight, and third-party supervision.

Furthermore, it constructs an open thematic map representation framework for multiple scales—national, provincial, and municipal (district) levels—facilitating both the aggregation of existing data and the dynamic addition and real-time updates of future data.

According to reports, the high-resolution mass spectrometry + internet + geographic information system ternary fusion technology introduces geographic information and massive internet data analysis methods into the simultaneous detection of multiple pesticide residues, the visualization of detection results, and is at an internationally leading level in terms of the number of non-targeted pesticide residue detection varieties.

Pang Guofang also expressed his hope that a national engineering research center for monitoring pesticide residues in commercially available edible agricultural products and a database of pesticide residues in commercially available edible agricultural products in China could be established in the future. He further hoped that the "pesticide residue detection reports from 31 provincial capitals/municipalities" generated by the pesticide residue database could be included in the national procurement plan, "revitalizing the vast database and transforming it into advanced productivity."

It is understood that this research represents a significant breakthrough in the field of pesticide residue detection technology within the context of supply-side structural reform. It will play a crucial technical support role in fulfilling the needs of the national "13th Five-Year Plan" to "enhance the quality and safety assurance capabilities of agricultural products" and "promote the construction of a healthy China."

Commentary

In recent years, the development trend of pesticide residue detection technology in food has gradually shifted from single-technology research to the establishment of a complete pesticide residue monitoring system. Highly efficient, rapid, and accurate pesticide residue detection technologies can no longer meet the needs of consumers and market regulators; monitoring pesticide residue risks at the source has become one of the latest development directions. It is hoped that with technological advancements and system improvements, my country's pesticide residue monitoring level can truly reach the forefront of the world, benefiting more people.