Dissipation dynamic, residue distribution and processing factor of hexythiazox in strawberry fruits under open field condition

Two independent field trials were performed to investigate the dissipation and residue levels of hexythiazox in strawberry. The study presents a method validation for extraction and quantitative analysis of hexythiazox residues in strawberry using HPLC-DAD. The results shown that the mean recoveries ranged from 85% to 93%, furthermore the intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were less than 10%. The results suggest that the hexythiazox dissipation curves followed the first-order kinetic and its half-life ranged from 3.43 to 3.81 days. The final residues in strawberry were below the Codex maximum residue limit (MRL) (6 mg/kg) after three days of the application. The effects of household processing and storage on the levels of hexythiazox residues were quantified, and it's useful for reducing the dietary exposure. The processing factor after each stage were generally less than 1, indicating that the whole process can reduce the residues of hexythiazox in strawberry. The results could provide guidance to safe and reasonable use of hexythiazox in agriculture. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.