Abstract
IntroductionSmall scale and large scale farmers around Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia grow vegetables using intensive agriculture methods to satisfy the ever increasing demand. To ensure maximum yield they apply various types of pesticides to control pests and diseases that attack these vegetables. Organophosphate pesticides are widely used in agriculture for the control of various insect pests mainly in developing countries. The purpose of the study was to determine the residual levels of the most commonly used organophosphate, 2, 2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, in three commonestvegetables supplied at various markets around Lusaka.MethodsSamples of 9 bunches of rape, 14 bunches lettuce and 15 rolls cabbage were randomly picked from several study sites around Lusaka. The vegetables were chopped into small pieces which were chemically treated to get methanol extracts. The extracts were then dissolved in an appropriate solvent and using Shimadzu High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Ultra-violet detector (HPLC-UV) levels of 2, 2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate were determined.ResultsThe analysis showed that the average levels of dichlorvos were significantly above the maximum accepted limit as set by Zambian Food and Drugs Act on vegetables.ConclusionLocally grown vegetables from around Lusaka have higher than maximum acceptable limits. This may have implications on human health as the cumulative effect of organophosphates in human body has potential to cause long term health problems.
Highlights
Small scale and large scale farmers around Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia grow vegetables using intensive agriculture methods to satisfy the ever increasing demand
When applied to vegetable or any other plants small amounts of pesticide residues may remain in the crops or animal feed or environment leading to contamination [4]
This study revealed that out of the 15 cabbage samples 9(60%) of them had dichlorvos residues level below the maximum residue limit and 6 (40%) samples had dichlorvos residue above the MRLs
Summary
Small scale and large scale farmers around Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia grow vegetables using intensive agriculture methods to satisfy the ever increasing demand. To ensure maximum yield they apply various types of pesticides to control pests and diseases that attack these vegetables. Conclusion: Locally grown vegetables from around Lusaka have higher than maximum acceptable limits This may have implications on human health as the cumulative effect of organophosphates in human body has potential to cause long term health problems. Pesticides can be defined as chemical substances considered as poisons and used in certain circumstances to kill targeted pests or as chemicals or biological substances used to control pests. They may target pests such as insects, fungus, mollusks, microbes and nematodes which may be vectors of disease of plants resulting in reduced production of vegetables and fruits. Zambian Food and Drugs Act No 13 of 1994 defines the maximum residue limit (MRL) as1.0ppm (1 mg/kg) for cabbage, rape and lettuce
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