Abstract
In developing countries, herbal plants are not only sold under controlled conditions (in markets and pharmacies), but also sold in traditional markets without proper control conditions. For this reason, a total of 120 samples of five different medicinal plants were collected from local markets in three different Egyptian governorates (40 samples for each governorate), and the presence of a wide range of pesticides residues was tested. The collected samples were extracted and cleaned up by an accredited analytical method, based on the known QuEChERS extraction approach and using GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS. Results revealed that 63 pesticide residues were found in samples collected from three different governorates. Notably, more than fifteen pesticides were detected in eight samples. Furthermore, chlorpyrifos was the most frequently detected pesticide. Additionally, thiophanate-methyl had the highest concentration with a concentration of 5.65 mg kg-1, followed by malathion with a concentration of 2.55 mg kg-1, both of which were detected in Cairo Governorate. In conclusion, these results not only indicate the presence of uncontrolled pesticide practices in herbal agriculture production but also suggest the existence of an uncontrolled import of highly contaminated herbs. Furthermore, a probability of pesticide treatments during their storage stage may be occurred in the uncontrolled local traditional market.