DETERMINATION AND HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN WATERMELON (Citrullus lanatus) FRUIT SAMPLES IN WUKARI, NIGERIA
Synthetic chemical pesticides have been globally used to suppress yield loss attributable to pest attack on crop-plants and human exposure to these chemicals has largely been through food consumption. To reduce harmful impacts of pesticides on humans, health risk assessment is imperative. This stud...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of Biosciences
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | The Bioscientist |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://bioscientistjournal.com/index.php/The_Bioscientist/article/view/105 |
| Summary: | Synthetic chemical pesticides have been globally used to suppress yield loss attributable to pest attack on crop-plants and human exposure to these chemicals has largely been through food consumption. To reduce harmful impacts of pesticides on humans, health risk assessment is imperative. This study thus determined the levels and risks associated with the consumption of selected pesticides in watermelon fruits in Wukari, Nigeria and also compared the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) with the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of the pesticides. A total of 90 sub-samples of watermelon fruits were assayed for 8 organochlorine, 9 organophosphate and 6 pyrethroid pesticides using a GS-MS (7980A) – hyphenated to a mass spectrophotometer (5975C). The mean recoveries were within 80% – 115% with relative standard deviations of < 15%. Results showed that, all (100%) samples contained organochlorine residues while approximately 81% and 61% of the samples were contaminated with organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, respectively. Total pesticide residue ranged from 0.0003±0.0006 to 0.0117±0.0161mg/kg for organochlorines; 0.0009±0.0008 to 0.0110±0.0082mg/kg for organophosphates; and 0.0001±0.0002 to 0.0037±0.0012mg/kg for pyrethroids. Only 0.72% samples had EDI > ADI. Samples with residues more than FAO/WHO recommended Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) were 50% and 31%, respectively for organochlorines and organophosphates (none for pyrethroids). While, none of the samples had Health Risk Index (HRI) greater than 1 for pyrethroids in both children and adults; 2.08% and 1.96% had for organochlorines and organophosphates, respectively. The study thus revealed negligible health risk associated with watermelon consumption in the study area and showed that children have higher risks than adults.
|
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2630-7103 2630-7111 |