Health Risk Assessment of Organochlorine Pesticides Contaminations in Dairy Products from Selected Farms in Greater Accra Region-Ghana

Abstract

The study was geared towards ascertaining the levels of synthetic pyrethroids and organochlorine pesticides residues in dairy products(milk, cheese and yoghurt) from selected farms in Greater Accra Region of Ghana. In all fifty (50) samples of dairy products (25 fresh cow milk, 9 cheese and 16 yoghurt) were analyzed. Detectable levels of organochlorine pesticides,OCPs(β-HCH, endrin, endosulfan, p’p’-DDT, heptachlor and methoxychlor) and Synthetic pyrethroids(permethrin, allethrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin and cyfluthrin).

Ultrasonic extraction was employed and extract clean-up was done using silica gel and analyzed using a gas chromatograph (Agilent Model 6890 Gas Chromatograph) equipped with Ni-63 electron capture detector (ECD). . Milk samples were found to be the most contaminated with respect to the OCPs and the levels ranged between 0.0001μg/ml and 0.0407μg/ml. β-HCH was the highest OCP with concentration of 0.0407μg/ml while Cyfluthrin was the highest synthetic pyrethroids recorded in yoghurt sample (0.0318μg/ml).The levels of organochlorine pesticide residues detected in all the tissues were below the accepted Maximum Residue Limits (MRL), as adopted by the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission (2005).

Keywords: dairy products, organochlorine pesticides, synthetic pyrethroid, health risk, Ghana, gas chromatography