Pesquisa de resíduos de pesticidas organoclorados no leite distribuído à população de Fortaleza (CE)

Abstract

This study was to measure organochlorine pesticide residues in bovine milk in Fortaleza, Ce., in Northeast Brazil. The materiel analyzed was fresh, pasteurized, 3.2% fat milk, purchased in one liter polyethylene containers in a local food market. Milk samples were collected once a month from september, 1983 to january, 1984 from four different dairy plants. BHC, DDT and dieldrin residues were analyzed as described in A.O.A.C. (1980), with sligth modifications to meet local laboraoty conditions. Pesticide identification and quantitation were by a gas-liquid chromatograph equipped with an electron captura detector. Two different columns for organochlorine substances were used for both the samples and the standards. Pesticide standards were provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Organochlorine residue levels in the milk samples, were relatively low. DDT and dleldrin levels were below maximum acceptable limits for this type of food. BHC showed levels near the limit at the beggining of the experimental period. However, these values decreased near the end of the sampling period. The results suggest that he low level of pesticide comtamination might be associated with reduced agricutural activities in the region provoked by a five-year drought from about 1979 to 1984.