Level of Organochlorine and Pyrethroid Pesticide Residues in Vegetable Farmers’ Blood of Southern Benin

Abstract

Pesticides are a class of chemical substance that can destroy pests and other unwanted organisms. When sprayed by the farmers on their crops against pests, pesticides can also have an adverse effects on human health. Determination of pesticide residues in human blood is one of the methods used to evaluate their exposure. Despite pesticides being used by farmers in Benin, there has been no data on the levels of organochlorine (OC) and pyrethroid (Pyr) residues in vegetable farmers’ blood that indicate chronic exposure to pesticides. This study therefore investigated the level of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticide residues in vegetable farmers’ bloodin Southern Benin. During October 2017 and January 2018, blood samples were collected from 22 and 20 vegetable and non-vegetable farmers (control group) respectively. Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) was used to extract OC and Pyr residues from the blood samples. Residues in the blood were quantified using Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Data were analyzed with R Statistical Software version 3.4.3. Independencetest X2 was used to establish the relationship between to belong vegetable farmer group and presence of pesticide residues in the blood. The difference are statistically significant when p < 0.01. Among the pesticide residues found in the blood of the farmers and the control group, the concentrations of cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) and β-endosulfan were significantly different (p < 0.01). Blood of the vegetable farmers was found to contained OC (β-HCH and β-endosulfan) and Pyr (cyfluthrin, cypermethrin) pesticide residues that they used against pests. These compounds may be responsible for different health problems observed among the vegetable farmers in Southern Benin.