Analysis of organochlorine pesticide residues in bovine milk samples in Varanasi region, India Bhinchhar Basant Kumar1, Paswan Vinod Kumar*, Kharkwal Sheela1, Yadav Satya Prakash, Singh Arun Pratap1, Kumar Vishal1, Kanetkar Prajasattak1 Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India 1Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner-303329, India *Corresponding author: vkpaswan.vet@gmail.com
Online Published on 24 May, 2024. Abstract Extensive applications of pesticides on crops result in the contamination of feed. Contaminated feed, fodder, and drinking water of livestock lead to adulteration of milk which in turn is the primary cause of substandard nutritional value of the milk produced in India. Bovine milk from different blocks of Varanasi region of Uttar-Pradesh, India has been analysed for organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues. The study was based on 360 bovine milk samples collected from 4 blocks in 3 seasons viz., summer, rainy and winter. Out of 180 cow milk samples, 68 (37.77%) samples were found to contain OCP residues. Contamination with aldrin residues were found with a total value of 16.11% in cow milk and 25.00% in buffalo milk samples. The mean endosulfan concentration in cow milk and buffalo milk were 1.41 and 1.77 μg/kg, respectively. In cow milk samples the residues of α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, γ-HCH were 1.8, 4.4, 6.7 and 6.6 μg/kg while in buffalo milk it was observed 5.4, 5.3, 8.9 and 8.6 mg/kg, respectively. Among different DDT isomers, 4,4’ DDE and 2,4’ DDT had the highest prevalence of 37.22 and 37.00% in cow milk samples. The prevalence of residues of 2,4’ DDD, 2,4’ DDT and 4,4’ DDT in buffalo milk was 19.4, 26.1 and 30.0%, respectively. The highest prevalence of OCP residues in buffalo and cow milk was observed in winter followed by summer and rainy seasons successively. The above MRL prevalence of OCP residues was 1.7% (3 out of 180) in cow milk and 6.1% (11 out of 180) in buffalo milk. The findings underscore the need for continued monitoring of pesticide residues in milk and the importance of promoting judicious pesticide use in agriculture to minimize contamination and potential health risks. Top Keywords Bioaccumulation, Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), Organochlorine, Pesticide residues, QuEChERS extraction. Top |