Assessment of daily intake of organochlorine pesticides from milk in different regions of Poland

The common occurrence of organochlorine compounds in the environment, food and human tissues may constitute a serious threat to human health. The method of gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy was used to determine the content of pesticides in 15 samples of raw cow's milk from different regions of Poland. The results revealed high levels of p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDT, heptachlor and aldrin. The studied milk contained lindane in average concentrations within the maximum limits. Although in 20% of all samples tested, the concentration of lindane exceeded permissible limits, while in 15% of samples the content of Σ DDT was too high. But the average daily consumption of milk containing organochlorine pesticides poses no direct threat to human health, because daily intake (DI) for all compounds were below the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Attention should be paid to the exposure of consumers to pesticide residues from other dairy foods.     

Effect of herbicide acetochlor on cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and GST of earthworms Eisenia fetida

To assess the sublethal toxicity of the herbicide acetochlor to earthworms and to find out biomarkers possible inducted under acetochlor exposure, Eiseniafetida was exposed to artificial soils supplemented with different concentrations of acetochlor（5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg soil）. Effects of the acetochlor on cytochrome P450 monooxygenases p-nitroanisole O-demethylase（ODM）, aldrin epoxidase（AE） and glutathione-S-transferases （GSTs） activities were determined. The results revealed cytochrome P450 monooxygenases were elevated with increasing concentrations of acetochlor, and the AE activity increased significantly compared with control at the concentration of 80 mg/kg （P〈0.05）. However, ODM activity from E. fetida was not induced significantly by acetochlor at all treatments（P〉0.05）. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryamide gel electrophoresis（SDS-PAGE） showed that one protein band was visualized and no evident differences were found in protein profiles between treatments and control. The GST activity increased significantly with longer duration（P〈0.05） and increasing concentrations of acetochlor exposure（P〈0.05）. This study showed that the monooxygenases and GSTs activities in E. fetida could be induced by acetochlor, and thus, the AE and GST could be used in sublethal assays for soil contamination surveys and GST could be used as biomarkers of acetochlor exposure in E. fetida.     

Impact of some chlorinated pesticides on the haematology of the fish Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto

The effects of pesticides on blood characteristics and histological changes in erythrocytes of the fish species Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto were studied. The fishes were exposed to sub lethal concentrations of different chlorinated pesticides namely aldrin, dieldrin, DDT, BHC and chlordane for 10, 20 and 30 d in continuous flow-through test. The LCso values were calculated based on acute toxicity tests and the sublethal doses were arrived at for chronic bioassay studies. Results showed an increase in haemoglobin content of both Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto in case of aldrin and dieldrin. Haemoglobin content reduced from an initial 13 g/100 ml to 8.07 and 10.15 g/100 ml in case of Cyprinus at the end of ten days exposure to aldrin and dieldrin respectively, and gradually increased to 8.7 g/100 ml and 10.15 g/100 ml after 20 d of exposure. The haemoglobin content after 30 d exposure to aldrin and dieldrin was 10.15 g/100 ml and 11.6 g/100 ml respectively. In case of Puntius ticto, the haemoglobin content in control fishes recorded was 12.8 g/100 ml while in case of fish exposed to aldrin, the haemoglobin content reduced initially on ten days exposure to 10.15 g/100 ml and increased to 11.6 g/100 ml and 13.0 g/100 ml during twenty days and thirty days exposure respectively. This trend was also observed with dieldrin in both the fishes studied. Red blood cells were also counted in case of all the pesticides and exposure periods with respect to Cyprinus carpio and Puntius ticto. Irrespective of the species and pesticide, the RBC counts uniformly showed decreasing trend with the increase in exposure period, while packed cell volume, PCV(%) showed increasing trend with respect to increase in exposure period in case of aldrin and dieldrin in both the fishes. But DDT, BHC and chlordane showed decreasing trend in PCV(%) values with increasing periods of exposure.     

The stability of dieldrin,aldrin, lindane,chlorpyrifos and prothiofos in stored roof water

Abstract

The stability of dieldrin, aldrin, lindane, chlorpyrifos and prothiofos was determined in distilled water and in roof water from either galvanised or concrete tanks. Samples were stored in the dark at 23°C. Dieldrin and lindane were stable for the 36 week period. Aldrin dissipated rapidly with a half‐life of 4–5 weeks, with no dieldrin being formed. Chlorpyrifos and prothiofos also broke down, with half‐lives ranging 12–18 weeks and 11–14 weeks respectively. No significant effect of water type was found. For the purpose of domestic usage, an activated carbon filter would be essential otherwise all contaminated water would have to be disposed of safely.