Assessment of systemic and carcinogenic health risks of persistent organochlorine pesticide residues in four fruit vegetables in south-western Nigeria

Abstract

PurposeThe study assessed the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks in four regularly consumed fruit vegetables.Design/methodology/approachThe OCPs’ residues were quantified using a gas chromatograph coupled with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD) and the dietary exposure of children, and adult consumers to the detected OCPs was evaluated using carcinogenic and systemic health risk estimations.FindingsAldrin, endrin, endrin aldehyde, a-endosulfan, β-endosulfan, endosulfan sulphate, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide and dieldrin were detected in the four fruit vegetables. The predominant OCP residue in carrot, cucumber, tomatoes and watermelon was endosulfan sulphate with mean concentrations of 2.532 mg kg−1, 1.729 mg kg−1, 2.363 mg kg−1 and 1.154 mg kg−1, respectively. The residues levels in some of the fruit vegetables were higher than their respective maximum residue levels (MRLs) of 0.01–0.05 mg kg−1 set by the European Commission with concentrations above MRLs ranging between 25.5% and 100%. The systemic health risk estimations showed that the hazard index (HI) values for carrot (3.20), cucumber (9.25), tomatoes (50.21) and watermelon (16.76) were >1 for children consumers and the respective HI values of 2.87, 15.57 and 5.20 for adult consumers of cucumber, tomatoes and watermelon were >1 which implies potential systemic health risks. Four carcinogens (aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide) had cancer risk index values greater than the acceptable risk of 1 in 1 million for both adult and children consumers.Originality/valueThe paper shows that despite the ban on the use of OCPs in Nigeria, they are still being used for agricultural production especially on some locally produced and regularly consumed fruit vegetables as reported in the present study. The non-existence of surveillance programmes on pesticide usage and the lack of proper monitoring of pesticide residues in food products including fruit and vegetables must have contributed to the levels of the detected OCP in the samples analysed. The current daily intake of OCP via contaminated vegetables may pose potential health risks to both the children and adult consumers of the fruit vegetables.

Human exposure to organochlorine pesticides in vegetables from major cities in south-south Nigeria

“…The OCPs concentrations in vegetables from south-south, Nigeria were comparable to OCPs concentrations reported in some vegetables from Lagos, Nigeria (Oyeyiola et al, 2017), Ghana (Bolor et al, 2018), Togo (Kolani et al, 2016) and Pakistan (Majeed et al, 2020). However, the concentrations of OCPs obtained in this study were higher than those reported by Shoiful et al (2013) for vegetables in Indonesia but lower than others (Adefemi et al, 2018;Agnandji et al, 2018;Adeleye et al, 2019;Odewale et al, 2021;Olutona et al, 2021;Omeje et al, 2021;Suleiman et al, 2021).…”

Quantification of Heavy Metals and Pesticide Residues in Widely Consumed Nigerian Food Crops Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Gas Chromatography (GC)

“…Clearly, detectable levels of heavy metals and pesticide residues in cereals, legume, and tubers as well as in fruit/leaf vegetables were found in this current study. In many cases herein, the concentrations of heavy metals and pesticide residues fell below, not only the established maximum permissible limits [30][31][32][33][34][35][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67], but also, the reported data of previously published studies specific to Nigeria [6,37,38,41,42,61,68,72,74,75]. These results might suggest there could be a potential/somewhat gradual decline in heavy metals and pesticide residues concentration compared to previously published reports specific to Nigeria.…”

“…For instance, Endosulfan trended as follows: Carrot (0.0733 ± 0.00 mg/kg) > Cucumber (0.0376 ± 0.00 mg/kg) > Okro (0.0147 ± 0.00 mg/kg); whereas Lindane trended as follows: Carrot (0.5171 ± 0.000 mg/kg) > Cucumber (0.5036 ± 0.00 mg/kg) > Watermelon (0.4191 ± 0.00 mg/kg); which differed from t-nonachlor that trended as follows: Cucumber (0.1468 ± 0.001 µg/mL) > Watermelon (0.0811 ± 0.00 mg/kg) > Carrot (0.0003 ± 0.00 mg/kg). Odewale et al [74], through investigations on four regularly consumed fruit vegetables cultivated in Southwest Nigeria, equally detected some organochlorine pesticides like Aldrin, Endosulfan, Heptachlor, and Dieldrin. These researchers found Endosulfan as the predominant organochlorine pesticide residue in carrot (~2.532 mg/kg), cucumber (~1.729 mg/kg), and watermelon (~1.154 mg/kg), all of which are above the values reported in this current work.…”

Safeguarding sustainability: Exploring safety practice adherence among urban vegetable farmers in Ghana

“…This considerable variability in pesticide usage highlights the significance of farmers adhering to the recommended safety practices (Ding and Zhang, 2023). Following these practices is essential to safeguard the health of farmers, preserve the environment, and ensure that the vegetables have acceptable levels of pesticide residues (Coulibaly et al, 2011;Damalas and Eleftherohorinos, 2011;Kariathi et al, 2017;Odewale et al, 2022;Syed et al, 2014). By adopting proper safety measures in pesticide use, farmers can mitigate potential risks associated with overuse or misuse of these chemicals.…”