Abstract
Qat leaves are chewed on a daily basis by approximately 10 million inhabitants of different countries. This study investigated the persistence of three insecticides most used in qat production, imidacloprid, acetamiprid and methomyl. These chemicals were applied separately on plots of ten qat trees each at the recommended application rates. Samples of qat leaves were collected separately at time 0 (1 h post-treatment) and 1, 3, 7, 12, 19, 26 and 37 days after application. The residues of the investigated pesticides were extracted and then quantified by liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS). The half-lives of imidacloprid, acetamiprid and methomyl were 12.2, 11.7, and 5.1 days, respectively. Overall, our findings showed that imidacloprid and acetamiprid were more persistent than methomyl in qat leaves. Taking into account the maximum residue limits (MRL) in lettuce, due to lack of MRL in qat leaves, the residue concentrations were below MRL for imidacloprid 7 days after application, and 1 day after application for acetamiprid and methomyl.