Quantification of purity of some frequently used insecticides in vegetables insect pests

Abstract

Abstract:The study was carried out to quantify the purity of different marketed brands of three insecticide namely diazinon, acephate and cypermethrin using suitable protocols GC-FID and GC-ECD. Nineteen marketed brands of these insecticides collected from retailers of Jessore, Gazipur and Rangpur region were analyzed and estimated their purity in two seasons of 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Among six marketed brands of diazinon, only one brand (RSN) had 96.71-100% purity in both the seasons in all locations which considered to be standard product, but four brands (DZN, SBN, HZN, DNN) in other regions, contained <95% pure which were substandard product. The remaining 2 brands (DNN, AZN) contained 33.71-51.94% purity in 2006-07 and the other two brands (SBN, DZN) had very small amount of active ingredient (0.16-0.84% purity) in 2007-08 and all these were impure in quality. All five tested brands of acephate had 57.14-88.59% purity in 2006-07 which were substandard but in 2007-08, three brands (SNT, BNS, ATF) showed >90% purity and the remaining 2 had <80% purity which were less AI than required. Of eight tested brands of cypermethrin, three brands were almost to have >95% pure in 2006-07 in all locations. The other two brands (CPR, AMT) contained >90% purity. In 2007-08, two brands of cypermethrin (RCD, SCR) contained >95% pure, another two brand (CRN, RLT) had 88.77-91.15% purity. The brands UTD was standard in purity in 2006-07 but this brand was below standard in quality in 2007-08 in all locations. Most of the tested brands of cypermethrin were found standard and sub standard level of purity in comparison to diazinon and acephate.

Quantification of Pesticide Residues in Fresh Vegetables Available in Local Markets for Human Consumption and the Associated Health Risks

“…The marketed brands of pesticides might have less quantity of active ingredients than the recommended dose or no active ingredient at all. Consequently, the data obtained from the purity analysis of acetamiprid, cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and thiram were 20.0, 0.0-100, 2.5, and 17-20%, respectively, which were collected from the dealers or retailers of Bogura, Chittagong, Chuadunga, Comilla, Dinajpur, Faridpur, Gazipur, Jamalpur, Jessore, Kushtia, Meherpur, Mymensing, Norshingdi, Rajshahi, and Rangpur Districts of Bangladesh (Table 2) [11,14,[16][17][18][19]31]. Thus, farmers spray pesticides in their agricultural field on each alternate day or sometimes every day to protect their crops from pest and diseases infestation [11][12][13].…”

“…The indiscriminate and overuse of these adulterated pesticides is not desired, as they deposit more toxic additives/carrier materials to soil, environment, and food matrices [9]. Besides, pests become resistant to those pesticides due to the overuse of adulterated pesticides [11,14].…”

“…Several reports have demonstrated that farmers unintentionally spray pesticides in their vegetable fields on each alternate day or sometimes every day due to the lack of knowledge and unavailability of sustainable alternatives [11][12][13]. Furthermore, pesticide adulteration in terms of active ingredients is another shortcoming for safe food production in Bangladesh [11,14,15]. Researchers found that some of the marketed pesticide brands in Bangladesh contain less active ingredients than the required doses, whereas some contained no active ingredients at all, which is one of the reasons for the overuse of pesticides [11,14,[16][17][18][19].…”

“…Furthermore, pesticide adulteration in terms of active ingredients is another shortcoming for safe food production in Bangladesh [11,14,15]. Researchers found that some of the marketed pesticide brands in Bangladesh contain less active ingredients than the required doses, whereas some contained no active ingredients at all, which is one of the reasons for the overuse of pesticides [11,14,[16][17][18][19]. Accordingly, pests (insect, pathogens, and weeds) have become resistant to those specific pesticides due to the repeated use of adulterated pesticides [11,14].…”

“…Researchers found that some of the marketed pesticide brands in Bangladesh contain less active ingredients than the required doses, whereas some contained no active ingredients at all, which is one of the reasons for the overuse of pesticides [11,14,[16][17][18][19]. Accordingly, pests (insect, pathogens, and weeds) have become resistant to those specific pesticides due to the repeated use of adulterated pesticides [11,14]. Moreover, the extensive use of adulterated pesticide is accountable for the deposition of more toxic inert ingredient/carrier materials to soil, environment, and food matrices [9,20].…”