[en] As in any intensive culture, flowers require the use of a wide range of pesticides to control diseases and pests which can damage production and marketability. In order to evaluate the average levels of contamination of the cut flowers and to assess the risk for professionals exposed to pesticide residues when handling cut flowers, a survey was carried out with a group of florists from the Belgian largest cities. Fifty samples of roses (5 stems per bouquet) were collected: 45 bouquets were sampled in the 7 largest cities of Belgium (Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, Leuven, Liege and Namur) and 5 were sampled from 5 supermarkets. Analysis of residual pesticide deposit is made by combining two multi-residue methods (GC-MS-MS and LC-MS-MS) in a laboratory accredited for pesticide residues. For all the samples analysed, a total of 97 active substances were detected, i.e. an average of 14 active substances per bouquet and a total average pesticide load of 26,03 mg/kg per flower sample. Most active substances (a.s.) reached high levels of residues, with concentrations between 10 and 50 mg/kg. Samples from Belgium and The Netherlands have a lower average number of a.s./sample, but the amount of residues is about the same in all samples (20-30 mg/kg) whatever the country of origin , except for the sample from Germany who is the worst case (22 a.s. with a total amount of 92 mg/kg). Most of the detected active substances are fungicides (dodemorph, spiroxamine, cyprodinil, fluopyram, pyrimethanil, benomyl (carbendazim), propamocarb, boscalid and iprodione) which are present on more than 20 of the 50 samples. All of them have a dermal acute toxicity. Consequently, florists who handle a large number of flowers are exposed daily with a potential effect on their health.
