Objective Pesticide residue in tea products was surveyed in Mianyang, Sichuan to assess dietary intake risks for regulatory enforcement.

Method One-hundred-fifty tea specimens were collected randomly from the market at Mianyan City from 2023 to 2025. Residues of 23 pesticides were detected in the sampled products. Whether a pesticide was legally allowed for the application and its concentration in a product was within the permitted limit or not were determined according to the National Food Safety Standard—Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Food (GB 2763—2026). For food safety, the most frequently detected pesticides that are potentially hazardous to health were assessed for risks of chronic and acute health implications.

Result Of the 150 tea products, 9 were found contaminated with over the limit pesticides, i.e., a 6.0% positive rate, and one contained imidacloprid, i.e., 0.67% of the total. Other than imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, bifenthrin, acetamiprid, buprofezin, and methomyl were also detected in the specimens, with imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos showing the highest occurrence rates. The risks of consuming teas containing these elements at acceptable daily intakes were estimated to be 0.070-0.514% for chronic ill-effects and 0.028-7.704% for acute ailments.

Conclusion According to the 2023-2025 survey in Mianyang, the pesticide contamination rate in tea products was generally low with miniscule dietary intake risks. Special regulatory attention might be required on the use and presence of imidacloprid.