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Journal of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
(ISSN: 2659 – 0743)
Volume 7, No. 2, 2025
Pages 283-297
Pesticide Residues in Total Diet in Punjab, India: Contamination Levels and Human health Risk Assessment
Abdulrahman Mohammed1,2*, Rabinder Singh Aulakh2 and Jasbir Singh Bedi2
1Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B. 1069, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
2Centre for One Health, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, College of Veterinary Sciences, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana 141004, Punjab, India
ABSTRACT
Status of pesticide residues in total diet in Punjab, India, was determined, and human health risks resulting from consumption of contaminated total diet were assessed. One hundred (100) vegetarian and non-vegetarian samples, comprising breakfast, lunch and dinner, were analyzed by gas chromatography. Pesticide residues were detected in 56% of the samples, including malathion, ethion, chlorpyrifos, lindane and permethrin at mean levels of 19.5, 7.4 2.3, 3.1 and 1.5 μgkg-1, respectively. Ethion residues exceeded the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) in five samples. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the levels of contamination of each of the five different pesticides between vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets. For vegetarian total diet, the results showed that Hazard Index (HI) for all pesticides was less than 1 for the lower-bound (LB) scenario. However, in the upper bound (UB) scenario, HI was greater than 1 for ethion (3.2) and lindane (4.1). For non-vegetarian total diet, the results revealed that HIs for all pesticides were less than 1 (H<1) for the LB scenario, except ethion. In the UB scenario, HI was greater than 1 for ethion and lindane. The estimated risk of cancer for lindane at LB level was 1.75 x 10-4 and 1.23 x 10-4 for vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets, respectively; while at the UB level, the cancer risk for lindane in vegetarian diet was 1.38 x 10-3 and for non-vegetarian diet was 3.39 x 10-4. However, cancer risk for lindane from vegetarian diet at UB level was estimated to be 1.38 X 10-3, which is outside the recommended range of 10-4 to 10-6. There is a shift to the use of organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids in Punjab.
Keywords: Pesticide residues, Human health, Total diet, Hazard Index, Cancer risk