Persistent organochlorine pesticide levels in bovine fat from Mexico

Abstract

Organochlorine pesticides have been used in Mexico in agriculture as a seed dresser, in sanitation, in malaria control programmes and in livestock to combat ectoparasites. The pesticides applied drift to areas where cattle graze and plants grow. Because of their chemical stability, they accumulate in the lipid-rich tissues of the body. In the body, they circulate throughout all compartments and accumulate in adipose fat. The aim was to monitor the organochlorine pesticide levels in bovine muscle fat and kidney fat from cows living in an endemic malaria zone, where the environmental contamination can be suspected as being higher. Two hundred samples (100 muscle fat, 100 kidney fat) were analysed by gas chromatography. From the pesticides, only hexachlorobenzene (HCB), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), γ-HCH, pp′-1.1.1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT), op′-DDT and pp′-DDE, were detected frequently and at levels above the detection limits. The HCB mean level was low at 0.009 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. From the HCH isomers, β-HCH mean concentration was 0.039 mg kg−1 and γ-HCH was 0.025 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. Among DDTs, pp′-DDT was the major constituent (0.032 mg kg−1 on a fat basis) followed by pp′-DDE (0.025 mg kg−1 on a fat basis) and op′-DDT (0.023 mg kg−1 on a fat basis). The DDT total (σ DDT) level was 0.067 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. Comparing the previous study (1994) and the present one (2002–03), organochlorine pesticide levels were decreased. HCB decreased 3.7 times from 0.033 to 0.009 mg kg−1 on a fat basis; β-HCH decreased 3.8 times from 0.149 to 0.039 mg kg−1 on a fat basis; pp′-DDE did not reveal a significant difference at 0.026 versus 0.025 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. However, pp′-DDT decreased substantially, 6.7 times from 0.215 to 0.032 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. The DDT total decreased 3.5 times from 0.236 to 0.067 mg kg−1 on a fat basis. The tendency for reduced concentrations in organochlorine pesticide levels in Mexican cows is caused by their substitution with pyrethroids used in agriculture and by the Mexican Ministry of Health in sanitary programmes.