LEVEL OF ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN BLOOD AND URINE SAMPLES OF FARMWORKERS INVOLVED IN PESTICIDES APPLICATION IN YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE.

Abstract

Despite pesticides being used by farmers in Yola, there has been no data on the levels of organochlorine (OC) residues in farmworker blood and urine that indicate chronic exposure to pesticides. Blood and urine samples were collected from the farmworkers involved in pesticide spraying activities at two different farms from Twenty volunteers comprising of 15 males and 5 Females. The samples were analyzed using a Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). The results obtained revealed that among the organochlorine residues detected in the farmers’ blood and urine sample, DDE one the metabolites of DDT are the most frequently detected with a mean concentration of 0.0450 mg/L for blood samples and 0.0050mg/L for urine samples. DDE showed the highest mean concentration among all organochlorine residues detected in both samples. The lowest mean concentration was found in β - endosulfan (0. 0002mg.L) in blood samples and Aldrin(0.0009mg/L) in urine samples. The study reveals that the method for the whole blood analysis is a suitable tool in investigating the exposure of spray men and women to environmental pollutants and that urine analysis is not reliable as an analytic tool to measure the body burden of these compounds. Hence continuous monitoring of these pesticides is required to avert various environmental and health hazards that may arise from these pollutants.