All foods/Lemons

2024 · Greece · EFSA consolidated official controls · Calendar year

Pesticide residues found on lemons

57.1% of standard-grown samples had at least one detected residue. Standard-grown means samples not identified as organic (called conventional in the source data). Detection does not, by itself, mean the food was unsafe.

Compare with other foods →
Any residue57.1%Higher organic-buying priority

7 samples, standard-grown

No quantified residue42.9%Higher organic-buying priority

All reported results below quantification

Multiple residues42.9%Higher organic-buying priority

Two or more residues detected

Median residue count1Higher organic-buying priority

Highest observed count: 7

Above published limit0%Moderate organic-buying priority

Based on the reported compliance evaluation

Organic comparisonNot availableNot enough published data

Withheld: only 1 sample

Residue detail

What was found on lemons?

The most frequently detected residues across all 8 samples. This is the complete available table for this monitoring entry.

8samples checked

Detection does not establish harm. Health risk depends on both toxicity and the amount a person is exposed to.

What do these types mean?
  • FungicideControls fungal diseases such as moulds and mildews.
  • InsecticideControls insects that damage crops or stored food.
  • HerbicideControls weeds competing with a crop.
  • Growth regulatorChanges plant growth, development or ripening.
  • Other / mixedCovers multiple substances or a role that cannot be reliably assigned from the published name.

These labels describe agricultural function, not a toxicity ranking.

ResidueTypeSamplesMedianHigher resultTypical published limit
Pyrimethanil (RD)Other / mixed2 (25%)0.337 mg/kg0.66 mg/kg8 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Imazalil (RD)Other / mixed2 (25%)0.026 mg/kg0.039 mg/kg5 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Pyridaben (RD)Other / mixed2 (25%)0.018 mg/kg0.023 mg/kg0.3 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Spirotetramat (RD)Other / mixed2 (25%)0.048 mg/kg0.085 mg/kg0.5 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Fludioxonil (RD)Other / mixed2 (25%)0.659 mg/kg1.2 mg/kg10 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Malathion (RD)Other / mixed1 (12.5%)0.37 mg/kg0.37 mg/kg2 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Azoxystrobin (RD)Other / mixed1 (12.5%)0.52 mg/kg0.52 mg/kg15 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗
Pyriproxyfen (RD)Other / mixed1 (12.5%)0.11 mg/kg0.11 mg/kg0.7 mg/kg
Health summary pending

No reviewed substance-specific summary is available, so no health effect is inferred.

Search WHO/FAO JMPR ↗

“Higher result” is an approximate 95th-percentile observed concentration, not a safety threshold. Amounts of different pesticides should not be added together or compared directly. Functional types describe their usual agricultural role; they are not hazard or toxicity rankings.

ADI and ARfD are intake reference values, not limits for one food sample. A personal assessment would also require consumption, body-weight and wider exposure data. Source programmes report legal Maximum Residue Level results separately.

What this tells you

A monitoring result, not a verdict.

EFSA consolidates official control results reported by national authorities; sampling strategies and food coverage differ between countries. It is not a test of every lemons product sold in Greece. This entry’s latest included calendar year release is from 2024.

Published MRLs or tolerances are regulatory limits associated with pesticide use. Consumer-risk assessment is a separate process.

Limited sample coverage. Fewer than 20 samples: useful as a monitoring snapshot, but sensitive to individual results.

Compare organic and standard-grown results →

Common questions

How to read these lemons results

Were pesticide residues detected on lemons?

57.1% of 7 standard-grown samples in the 2024 EFSA consolidated official controls dataset had at least one quantified residue.

Does that mean lemons were unsafe?

No. A laboratory detection is not, by itself, a consumer-risk finding. Regulators assess dietary risk separately.

Should I buy organic lemons?

There were only 1 organic samples, so Residue Lens withholds the comparison.