Organochlorine pesticide residues in human milk and estimated daily intake (EDI) for the infants from eastern region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study presents the level of organochlorine pesticide (OC) residues in human milk samples collected from donor mothers aged from 18 to 30 years old, from four cities in Eastern district of Saudi Arabia (Al-Hassa, Al- Khobar, Al-Jubail, and Al-Dammam). Pesticides residues were extracted from the samples and analyzed using GC-MS. The results showed that, only pp’DDE and p,pDDD, were found in 82.5% and 70% of analyzed samples respectively, the total DDT were at level of 0.37, 0.32, 0.30 and 0.46 μg/L in the four cities respectively and were far below the MRL of 50 μg/L (FAO/WHO). The estimated daily intake (EDI) of DDT ingested by infant weight 3.5 kg ranged between 0.06 and 0.10 μg/kg, which is less than the ADI issued by (EFSA, 2014). Lindane (γ-HCH) found in 91.25% of the analyzed samples at level of 0.37, 0.35, 0.35 and 0.29 μg/L. The EDIs of Lindane by infant were far below the ADI of 5 μg/kg bw/day. Dieldrin and Enderin were found in 27.5% and 58.8% of samples respectively and were lower than MRL issued by FAO/WHO, but the (EDI) was higher than the ADI issued by EFSA. The isomer A-heptachlor was detected in 51% of the samples, at levels were 15 times lower than the MRL issued by FAO/WHO, but EDIs by infants were 2–4 times higher than the ADI issued by EFSA. However, the results of the four studied areas in Saudi Arabia showed no statistically different among locations (p > 0.05).