RISK ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN TOMATO AND BITTER GOURD COLLECTED FROM KISHOREGANJ DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

An experiment was performed to analyze selected pesticide residues in tomato and bitter gourd and to assess the chronic health risk indices associated with the residues. The samples were procured from five vital markets of five upazilas namely Kishoreganj Sadar, Katiadi. Bajitpur, Kuliarchar and Bhairab of Kishoreganj district and transported to the Pesticide Analytical Laboratory, Pesticide Research and Environmental Toxicology Section, Entomology Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur. Total 70 samples of two vegetables were analyzed using modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction method and Gas Chromatography (GC) coupled with Electron Capture Detector (ECD) for the determination of residues of three pesticides namely acetamiprid, cypermethrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin. The chronic health risk indices of the detected pesticide residues were calculated based on the estimated daily intake (EDI) and acceptable daily intake (ADI) for both adult and children population. Out of 35 analyzed samples of tomato, only 3 samples contained residues of cypermethrin and acetamiprid which were below the maximum residue limits set by European Union (EU-MRL) and the rest 32 samples contained no detectable residues. In case of 35 samples of bitter gourd, 4 samples contained residues of acetamiprid and lambda-cyhalothrin and 31 samples were free from detectable residues. Out of those 4 contaminated samples, 2 samples contained lambda-cyhalothrin exhibited residue level above the maximum residue limits (EU-MRLs) and the other 2 samples contained acetamiprid showed the residue level below the maximum residue limits (EU-MRLs). All the contaminated samples posed no risk for adult as the risk index values were below one but two samples with lambda-cyhalothrin indicate associated risk for children. This study revealed an overall scenario of selected pesticide residues in tomato and bitter gourd collected from different markets of Kishoreganj district and also reflected the chronic health effects of these residues on the population.