Levels of pesticide contamination in the flesh, skin and brains of wild and farmed catfish in Côte d’Ivoire

Combination of passive and grab sampling strategies improves the assessment of pesticide occurrence and contamination levels in a large-scale watershed

Heavy metal and pesticide content in commonly prescribed individual raw Chinese Herbal Medicines

As the U.S. population continues to grow, increasing demand for housing and related community resources means more land is being converted from agricultural uses to residential applications. According to the revised 1997 National Resources Inventory conducted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, more than 6 million acres of American farmland were converted to developed uses between 1992 and 1997. That is an annual conversion rate of roughly 1.2 million acres per year—a 51% increase over the average annual rate reported for the preceding decade. Naturally, many of these areas were routinely treated with pesticides and other chemicals during their agricultural lifetimes. Although this legacy has been problematic in a wide variety of land conversion scenarios, one in particular seems to have attracted the attention and concern of environmental officials and property buyers in several states across the country: the residential development of historic orchard properties. In state after state, these old orchards (which most often produced apples, but also peaches, cherries, pears, and other tree crops) are metamorphosing into highly desirable subdivisions—desirable, that is, until it emerges that the soil beneath the feet of the proud new residents may be contaminated with lead and arsenic. These toxic by-products are left from the days before DDT and before organophosphates, when arsenical pesticides, particularly lead arsenate (LA), were the treatment of choice to prevent the ravages of insect damage.

Organic farming reduces pesticide load in a bird of prey

Organochlorine pesticides in surface soils from obsolete pesticide dumping ground in Hyderabad City, Pakistan: Contamination levels and their potential for air–soil exchange

: The life cycle of the damselfly Calopteryx atrata was investigated in relation to pesticide contamination occurring in its aquatic habitat. Calopteryx atrata emerged from the River Onogawa around May and stayed as immature adults in forests away from the stream. From late June to mid-August, mature adults were engaged in reproduction at the stream. On the other hand, pesticide contamination occurred from April to August with its peak in May and June, following transplantation of young rice plants. Mature nymphs of C. atrata experienced pesticide contamination, but may have tolerated it. Hatched nymphs had high susceptibility to two of the commonly used insecticides, fenitrothion (mortality occurred at >4.0 μg l(-1) in 24 h and at >2.0 μg l(-1) in 48 h) and fenthion (>2.0 μg l(-1) in 24 h and >1.0 μg l(-1) in 48 h). Hatching was estimated to occur mainly in August, when pesticide contamination was not as high as the susceptibility level. However, the level of pesticide contamination in August is variable due to its origin from aerial spraying, so hatched nymphs may experience a hazardous amount of pesticides depending on the year or place. The population of C. atrata does not escape the risk of pesticide contamination completely and may be affected by it.

Accumulation of current-use pesticides, cholinesterase inhibition and reduced body condition in juvenile one-sided livebearer fish (Jenynsia multidentata) from the agricultural Pampa region of Argentina

Seventeen areas throughout New Zealand were ranked according to an index of potential pollution, and a selection of wells in six of the higher‐ranked areas were sampled and analysed for a range of pesticides. Land use in these areas includes market gardening, cropping, pipfruit, and kiwifruit orchards. The groundwater systems include shallow alluvial gravel, sand, basalt, and pumice aquifers. A total of 82 wells were sampled. Six wells had detectable levels of pesticides and an additional three wells had trace concentrations of an unidentified pesticide. Seven different pesticides were detected, mostly at concentrations < 1 mg m−3. One well had 37 mg m−3 atrazine and another had 1.7 mg m−3 procymidone. These pesticides were detected in the same wells on subsequent sampling occasions at lower concentrations. The level of 37 mg m−3 exceeded the health advisory limit for drinking water (3 mg m−3 ) of atrazine which has been established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The regions sampled in this survey were expected to have the greatest potential for pesticide contamination because of a combination of high pesticide use and vulnerable groundwaters; therefore the level of contamination in groundwater elsewhere in New Zealand should be lower than the levels found in this survey. Although the levels of pesticides were generally very low, unconfined groundwater in New Zealand can be contaminated by pesticides and in some situations there can be significant contamination.

Over the last decade, oysters in the Bay of Veys (Northwest France) have sporadically experienced significant summer mortality events which appear to be due to a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. In the present work, the involvement of pesticides (as additional stressors) was investigated using both artificial exposure and field studies (at two sites). Six herbicides were detected in seawater following tests for a total of 15 herbicides. The most estuarine site was the most contaminated, showing relatively high values compared with those recorded in a neighboring river. No pesticides were detected in the flesh of oysters in the field but exposure experiments led to an accumulation of two substituted ureas (diuron and isoproturon, from 0.5 μ g/L and 1 μ gL− 1 respectively). Some physiological effects were observed in terms of reproduction (partial spawning) and histopathology (atrophy of the digestive tubule epithelium) but results related to other tissue alterations and to neutral red retention (NRR) assays were not conclusive and require further investigation.

Pesticide exposure in farmland wild passerines: bio-indicators of a widespread contamination despite organic farming.

Stable isotope ratios and current-use pesticide levels in edible insects: Implications on chemical food safety

5 - Pesticides, veterinary residues and other contaminants in milk

Use of diatom life-forms and ecological guilds to assess pesticide contamination in rivers: Lotic mesocosm approaches

Biochemical biomarkers were used in ecological risk assessment of pesticide exposure. The experiments were carried out on six weeks old poultry birds (Gallus domesticus) weighing between 400 and 600 g (12 birds) and were divided into four groups of three birds each. The poultry birds were exposed for four weeks to different concentrations (1, 5 and 10%) of a locally manufactured insect powder called ‘Rambo’ which contains 0.6% permethrin. The control group had no pesticide added to their feed. Results of the experiment showed a significant increase (p 0.05) in the levels of total and conjugate bilirubin and creatinine between the treatments and the control, while urea showed significant difference at 5 (22.38 ± 0.42 mg/dl) and 10% (25.39 ± 0.50 mg/dl) pesticide contamination, respectively. Lipid peroxidation and lactate dehydrogenase showed significant differences at all levels of pesticide contamination, indicating possible oxidative stress. As such, results of this experiment support the use of biochemical biomarkers in the ecological risk assessment of pesticide contaminated environment. Key words: Biochemical biomarkers, ecological risk assessment, pesticide contamination, non-target animals, poultry birds.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The vulnerability of the Sankana dam to organochlorine pesticide contamination is a major cause for concern. Indigenes rely on the dam for drinking water and irrigation of their farmlands as well as for fish and other aquatic delicacies. Virtually there exists no study on the residual levels of organochlorine or other pesticide contaminants in the dam despite its susceptibility to pesticide contamination. In the present study, the levels of organochlorine residues in fish and sediments from the Sankana dam were assessed.METHODS: Pesticide residue extraction was achieved using acetonitrile containing 1% (v/v) acetic acid in the presence of sodium acetate, sodium citrate and magnesium sulphate followed by purification over activated florisil and sodium sulphate. Identification and quantification of residue extracts was done using a gas chromatograph conjugated with mass spectrometer.FINDING: In all, varying levels of 13 organochlorine residues were detected, 11 of which were found in fish and 12 in sediment. Average mean levels of organochlorine residues found in fish ranged from 0.001 - 0.277 mg/kg. Residual levels of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, delta-hexachlorocyclohexane, gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, endosulfan-A and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane in fish were relatively higher than their respective levels in sediment. Organochlorine residues found in sediment also ranged from 0.001 - 0.091 mg/kg. Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, methoxychlor, heptachlor, gamma-chlordane and endosulfan-B residual levels in sediment were higher than the corresponding levels in fish.CONCLUSION: The study provides a baseline for continuous/regular monitoring of organochlorine contaminants in the Sankana dam and other waterbodies upstream and downstream. Where organochlorine residues exceeded their recommended permissible thresholds typically suggests possible recent/continuous use of such pesticides within the catchment area. There is therefore the need for appropriate measures and/or need to strengthen existing policies that bans the importation, sale and use of organochlorine pesticides via strict enforcement.