More than half of edible flowers contaminated with pesticides, two studies find
Over 59% of edible flowers in Thailand found contaminated with harmful pesticides, two medical studies reveal at national academic forum.
Two studies have found that more than half of sampled edible flowers in Thailand were contaminated with hazardous pesticides.
The findings were presented at the 33rd Medical Academic Meeting held at the Impact Forum in Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi, from July 11 to 13.
The first study was conducted by Ratiyakorn Srikote of the Food Quality and Safety Office, under the Department of Medical Sciences, in collaboration with officials from the department’s offices in Chiang Rai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Songkhla, and Chonburi. It focused on contamination of edible flowers by hazardous chemicals used as pesticides.
A total of 192 edible flower samples were collected from gardens and markets across 13 health zones nationwide. Of these, 115 samples — or 59.9% — were found to be contaminated with pesticides. The contaminated samples included:
- 46 jasmine samples (24%)
- 43 rose samples (22.4%)
- 16 vegetable hummingbird samples (8.3%)
- 8 wild ramose herb samples (4.2%)
- 2 cowslip creeper samples (1%)
The study found contamination with 33 different types of pesticides, ranging from 0.01 to 6.2 milligrammes per kilogramme.
A second study was carried out by Pasurat Settaphan and Sasithorn Sukreetha, officials from the Ninth Medical Sciences Office in Nakhon Ratchasima. This study examined 18 samples — including roses, vegetable hummingbirds, wild ramose herbs, and cowslip creepers — for 132 types of pesticides.
The results revealed:
- 9 of 12 rose samples (75%) were contaminated
- 1 of 3 vegetable hummingbird samples (33%) was contaminated
- No contamination was found in wild ramose herbs or cowslip creepers
The most commonly detected pesticides were chlorfenapyr, carbendazim, and carbaryl.
