Human health risk assessment of pesticides used for rice cultivation in an agricultural pockets of Eastern India

Abstract

AbstractFood consumption is one of the principal reasons of human exposures to pesticides. The research analyses the relation between pesticide contaminations and their possible adverse health impacts. Rice grain and soil samples were collected from seven blocks of Bargarh district, Odisha. Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the analysis and characterization of various pesticides present in rice grain as well as in soil samples. The identified pesticide residues in rice grain samples were found to be in the sequence of ∑DDT > chlorpyrifos > chlorothalonil > vinclozolin > chlorthal‐dimethyl > endosulfan‐1 > lindane. Detected pesticide concentrations were found to exceed the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) set by the Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards with DDT having the highest concentration of 29.27 mg/kg (which is 292 times the MRLs) and lindane with the least concentration of 4.35 mg/kg (which is 435 times the MRLs). Estimated average daily intake (EADI) was found to be higher for DDT and lower for lindane. The Health Risk Index (HRI) for DDT was higher and lower for chlorothalonil in all the samples. Results of one‐way ANOVA reflected no significant differences in variance between the concentrations of pesticides in rice grain samples. Result showed that the residual levels of ∑DDT in soil ranged between 7.8 and 29.3 mg/kg which was the maximum concentration among all the pesticides. Lindane and chlorthal‐dimethyl showed the least concentration ranging between 1.2–4.2 and 1.6–4.1 mg/kg, respectively. DDT had the highest bioconcentration factor (BCF) ranging between 1 and 4. Lindane and endosulfan‐1 had the lowest BCF ranging between 1 and 2. BCF value of other pesticides were found between the range of 1 and 4. Bioconcentration factors of pesticides in rice and soil samples indicated that pesticides in soil could get accumulated in rice. It was observed that the health risk associated with the consumption of rice could be because of its contamination by the pesticides in the study area or of the biomagnification of pesticides from the soil. It is necessary to spreading the awareness regarding safer use, storage and disposal of pesticides should be given utmost importance at the moment as an attempt to reduce or eliminate the environmental contaminations caused by them. National authorities should enforce proper rules and regulations in order to monitor and control the vigorous use of chemical loaded pesticides in agriculture and various other fields. It would be even better to substitute the chemical pesticides with the organic component‐based Bio‐pesticides as a safer option for the mankind and its environment.