Residue level and health risk assessment of organophosphorus pesticides in eggplant and cauliflower collected from Dhaka city, Bangladesh

M Habib,N Begum,M.T.I Chowdhury,A Kaium,M.A Islam,M.D.H Prodhan,M.S.I Khan

doi:10.26656/fr.2017.5(3).624

Abstract

Residue levels of seven organophosphorus pesticides in two vegetables (eggplant and cauliflower) collected from major markets of Dhaka city, Bangladesh were analysed. The collected samples were analysed using a modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction technique by Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Thermionic Detector (GC-FTD). Among the 50 analysed samples of the eggplant 12% samples contained residues of chlorpyrifos (0.384~0.980 mg/kg), 6% samples contained residue of dimethoate (0.052~0.132 mg/kg) and 2% samples contained residue of diazinon (0.01 mg/kg). Whereas, among the 50 samples of cauliflower, 12% samples contained residues of chlorpyrifos (0.056~0.540 mg/kg), 8% samples contained residues of diazinon (0.033~0.42 mg/kg) and 2% samples contained residues of quinalphos (0.06 mg/kg). The chlorpyrifos was found as the most frequently detected organophosphorus pesticide. Among the 21 contaminated samples, 20 were above EU-MRL. Short and long-term health risk assessment based on ARfD and ADI indicates that the intake risks of eggplant and cauliflower were in the acceptable range. Nevertheless, establishing strong monitoring and traceability system together with controlling pre-harvest interval needed to ensure food safety, consumer confidence and promote vegetable export from Bangladesh.

Highlights

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are organic derivatives of phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, phosphorothioic acid, or phosphonothioic acids (Corbett, 1974; Espinoza-Navarro et al, 2017; Eco and Zweig, 2018)
The average recoveries of the selected pesticides in eggplant ranged from 82-109% with RSD ≤9, while in the case of cauliflower it was 80-98% with RSD ≤8
The linearity, determination coefficient (R2), and limit of quantification (LOQ) were measured in an external standard solution using the peak areas obtained by Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Thermionic Detector (GC-Flame Thermionic Detector (FTD)) analysis

Summary

Introduction

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are organic derivatives of phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, phosphorothioic acid, or phosphonothioic acids (Corbett, 1974; Espinoza-Navarro et al, 2017; Eco and Zweig, 2018). The extensive use of pesticides can contaminate both the atmosphere and food, leading to health problems (Sultana and Nakagoshi, 2001; Islam et al, 2009). In OPPs, extensive exposure to higher concentrations can lead to cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory, metabolic, reproductive, and even immune symptoms problems (Joshi and Sharma, 2011; Espinoza-Navarro et al, 2017). These groups of compounds are likely to change embryonic health and lead children to ADHD (Hassani et al, 2017). Pesticide selection is mostly older, broadspectrum, organophosphate and carbamate class, because of their acute toxicity and they are cheaper than the newer types (Sultana and Nakagoshi, 2001)

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