To,

Dr. A.V SheraslyaEditorVeterinary World

Sub: Submission of the manuscript for the publication.

Dear Sir,

I am enclosing herewith hard copy of below-mentioned article along with floppy for kind consideration in your esteemed journal, Veterinary World. I will be submitted the subscription fees at the time of paper acceptance (P. Kumar is also your journal subscriber). The articles are being also sent by E-mail as attachments.

Pesticide residues in milk and their effect on livestock & human being by Mukesh K. Raikwar, Subir K. Nag, Manoj Singh and Puneet Kumar

Kindly acknowledge the receipt of the same.

With kind regards

Yours sincerely

(Mukesh K. Raikwar)

Address for correspondence:

Mukesh K. RaikwarSenior Research FellowProtein Nutrition LaboratoryDivision of Animal NutritionIndian Veterinary Research InstituteIzatnagar – 243 122, BareillyU.P., India

Pesticide residues in milk and their effect on livestock & human being

Mukesh K. Raikwar1, Subir K. Nag2, Manoj Singh1 and Puneet Kumar1

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

Izatnagar, Bareilly (U.P.)

Pesticide is a general term for substance which is used as a poison for killing

the weeds, insect, molds, rodents etc. Insecticides and rodenticides are most

dangerous for human being. Not every pesticide is actually toxic for humans or other

non target species (Aspelin, 1994). Synthetic pesticides have been popular with

farmers because of their simplicity in application, efficacy and economic returns.

In India 179 active ingredients of different pesticides including botanicals and

microbial products are registered for used, on the basis of used pattern markets share

of insecticide in maximum(74%) followed by fungicides (14%), herbicides(11%) and

others (1%) showed in fig-1.

Fig: 1 (Source – Pesticide information, volume XXVII, No-1, April-June 2002)

In Indian market the growth of pesticides has been phenomenal, while only

200MT of pesticides was consumed in 1955 but in 1994-1995 the figure was 8000

MT. After that there was decline in the consumption in 1999-2000, only 54133 MT

1 Division of Animal Nutrtion, IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly (U.P.)2 PAR Division, IGFRI, Jhasi, U.P.

Indian Agrochemical Sales

74%

11%

14%1%

Insecticide

Herbicide

Fungicide

other

pesticides were applied (Agnihotri, 2000). The reduction may be attributed primarily

due to ban or restriction to the use of some organochlorine pesticides like aldrin,

dieldrin, heptachlor, DDT, HCH (BHC) etc. which have higher rate and partially due

to use of natural product like botanical pesticide, microbial pesticide and adoption of

IPM programme to some extent.

The use of pesticide leads, residues on crop at harvest. The term pesticides

residues may be defined as some specific substances in food, agriculture commodity

for animal feed resulting from the use of pesticide. However, pesticide applied on a

crop or commodity. In other words, any substances to use the control pest, disease,

weeds etc. day invariably leave toxic residues in the substrate on which they are

applied. The amount of residues left depend on the nature of chemical, dose and

volume of application, nature of substance and prevailing weather condition etc.

Classification of pesticides: Chemicals/pesticides are toxic xenobiotics which can be

classified on the basis of different criteria such to use, chemical classes, mode of

action and toxicity. However, the main common and convenient classification is given

as under:

Algaecides: Control algae in lakes, canols, swimming pools etc.

Antimicrobes: Kill microorganism (such bacteria and virus)

Disinfectants/ Sanitizers: Kill or inactive diseases producing microorganism on/in

animal surfaces

Fungicides: kill fungi (like blight, mildews, molds and rust)

Fumigants: Produces gas/ vapor intended to destroy pests in building or soil

Herbicides: Used to control unwanted plants (weeds). Herbicides may be combined

with other material; such weeds and seed products.

Insecticides: Kill insects and other anthropoids.

Nematocides: Kill nematodes (nosegemented) round worms the infect roots by

certain crops.

Pheromones: Biochemical’s used to disrupt the mating behavior of insects.

Repellents: Repel pests, including insects such as mosquitoes and birds.

Rodenticides: Control mice, rats and other rodents.

Sources & entry of pesticides in animal body systems: The contamination

of milk products with pesticides residues is never as a results as direct treatment of

mil or milk products. There are three possible ways by which pesticides can enter into

the animal body. The possibility contamination of milk and milk product with DDT

and HCH are mainly through feed and fodder (Mukherjee and Gopal, 1993; Raikwar

and Nag, 2003) and some times dues to spraying of anima dwellings to keep the

animals free from insects pest. The feed material may be contaminated by pesticides

either at the time of cultivation of the crops in the field from which have been

prepared like oilseed crops (mustard seed cake, linseed cake, sesamum seed cake,

cotton seed cake) cereals (paddy, wheat, maize etc). Pesticide also used in a large

scale for their useful properties to kill ectoparasites like ticks, mites, insect on the

animal body through skin pores when applied by drenching. DDT deposit on wall

gradually volatilizes and vapors are absorbed into the animal body through inhalation

and direct absorption through skin. Some time drinking water may also be a source of

contamination. Adverse health effects are not expected from consuming milk with

pesticides below the maximum residue limits. Potential health effects in people

consuming pesticides above the maximum residue limits depend upon the kind and

amount of pesticide, how long the person has been consuming that milk, and the

person's overall health.

Fig 2: Sources of Contamination of pesticides residues in milk.

Pesticides residue in milk: Pesticides, which have an affinity for lipid material and

are not biodegradable, accumulate in animal systems such pesticides, cause

contamination of animal products like milk, meat, egg and fruits etc. The residues of

these pesticides animal products are also decline a very slow rate, even after sources

International Spray Unintentional Spray

Animal Feed

Grazing land contact Animal Environment, water, air and soil

Milk

Milk Products

Environment, Water, air Contaminated ingredients

of contamination are eliminated. Survey of tropical countries showed almost universal

presence of DDT and HCH in milk samples. In India, lot of work has been done in

since 1972-to date. (Dhaliwal and Karla, 1977; Sandhu, 1979; Battu et al., 1996;

Gupta et al, 1997; Gupta et al, 2001; Nag and Raikwar, 2002; 2003; 2004 )

Contamination of bovine milk organochlorine pesticides particularly with DDT and

HCH was first reported in 60’s and 70’s from Delhi area and Punjab (Dhaliwal and

Karla, 1977). The fifteen samples of dairy milk and 4 samples of milk product

analysed had residues leaves ranging from 0.022 to 0.166 mg/kg for HCH and 0.042to

0.382 mg/kg for DDT (Mukherjee and Gopal, 1993). The levels of DDT and HCH in

milk and milk product, are very alarming (Kannan et al. 1992; ICMR Report, 1993;

Wadhwa et al. 2000).

Maximum Residues Limits: It is the maximum concentration for a pesticide residue

crop or food commodity. It is express in mg/kg. Maximum residues limits of

Organochlorine pesticides for milk and milk products recommended by FAO/ WHO

(1996) and IDF (1997) are given in table -1

Table -1 Maximum Residues Limits (MRL) of organochlorine pesticides for milk and

milk products (mg/kg) recommended by FAO/ WHO-1996, IDF 1997)

Pesticide MRL(mg/kg) on fat basis

MRLa (mg/kg) on fat basis

Aldrin 0.006 0.15

Dialdrin 0.006 0.15

Chlordane 0.002 0.05

DDT 0.05 1.25

Endosulfan 0.004 0.1

Endrin 0.0008 0.02

Heptachlor 0.006 0.15

Methoxychlor 0.02 0.5

Hexachlorobenzene 0.02 0.5

α-HCH b 0.05 1.25

β-HCH b 0.02 0.2

γ-HCH (Lindane) 0.01 0.5

Σ-HCH b 0.02 0.5

a: Express on fat basis assuming that milk contain 4% fat

b: Provisional tolerance recommended by central Committee of food Standards, India

Health impacts of pesticides residues in milk

Among the different classes of pesticides, organochlorine pesticides are an

important class due to their slow decomposition rate, long half-life and high stability

in the environment. They are persistent in the environment and accumulate in the

upper tropic levels of food chains (Raju et al., 1982; Kocan and Landolt, 1989; Gallo

and Lawryk, 1991). Mild cases of poisoning are characterized by headache,dizziness,

gastrointestinal disturbances, numbness and weakness of the extremities,

apprehension and hyperirritability. When absorbed into the body, chlorinated

hydrocarbons are not metabolized rapidly and are stored in the fat.

Organophosphorus pesticides are all derivatives of phosphoric acid. They

contain phosphorous, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and frequently sulphur. This group is

less persistent in soil, food and feed for animals than the organochorine pesticides.

They break down into nontoxic metabolites. With a few notable exceptions, members

of this group are highly toxic and all act as cholinesterase inhibitors. Cholinesterase is

an enzyme in the human body that is essential to the normal functioning of the

nervous system. Inhibition of the activity of the cholinesterase enzyme prevents

neural signals from being transmitted from the brain to various parts of the body.

Symptoms of this inhibition include excess salivation, difficulty in breathing, blurred

vision, cramps, nausea and vomiting, rapid or slow heart rate, headache, weakness

and giddiness. The organophosphorous pesticides affect and damage the nervous

system and can cause cancer. They can cause reproductive and endocrinal damage

also.

Studies of the health effects of pesticides on humans focus on two aspects, the

acute toxicity, or immediate effects resulting from short-term exposure, and the

chronic toxicity, or effects resulting from more-prolonged exposures.

Toxic Effects of Human being

a) Acute effects

The short-term toxicity of a chemical, manifested over a period of hours or days, is

referred to as its acute toxicity. Acute toxicity, typically, is expressed as the

concentration required killing 50 per cent of a population of test animals such as

laboratory rats either through ingestion or through contact with the skin. These lethal

concentrations can vary greatly from one pesticide to another.

b) Chronic effects

Contaminants are more likely to cause chronic health effects that occur long

after repeated exposure to small amounts of a chemical. Examples of chronic health

effects include cancer, liver and kidney damage, disorders of the nervous system,

damage to the immune system, and birth defects. Evidence relating chronic health

effects to specific drinking water contaminants is limited. In the absence of exact

scientific information, On the basis of their chronic toxic effects, organic chemicals

are grouped into the following three major classes: carcinogens, mutagens, and

teratogens.

Any chemical that causes cancer in either a direct or an indirect form is called

a carcinogen. Pesticides heptachlor, aldrin and dieldrin, are known to produce cancer

in animals. Pesticides like DDT, HCH, dieldrin, etc, enter our bodies through the food

we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Fish and other animals we

consume in our diets are also exposed to these toxins the same way. These chemicals

don't degrade and are stored in our fat tissues. Most of the toxic chemicals found in

our water supply are fat soluble, which means they remain in a person's body for long

periods of time. The incidence of breast cancer in women is increasing and in vivo and

in vitro studies have shown that organochlorines promote mammary cancer (Joachim

et al., 2001).

REFERENCES

Agnihotri NP (2000). Pesticide consumption in agriculture in India – An update. Pesticide Research Journal. 12(1): 150-155.

Aspelin AL (1994) Pesticides industry sales and usage, 1992 and 1993 market estimates: U.S. EPA, Office of Pesticides Programs, Biological and Economic Analysis Div., Economic Analysis Branch Report: 33.

Battu RS, Singh B, Chahal KK and Kalra RL (1996). Contamination of animal feed with residues of HCH and DDT. Pesticide Research Journal. 8(2): 172-175.

Dhaliwal GS and Karla RL (1977). Indian Journal of Ecology. 4: 13-22.

Gallo M A and Lawryk NJ (1991) Organophosphorus pesticides In: Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology. Hayes WJ Jr. and Laws ER Jr., Eds. Academic Press, New York, NY, 5-3

Gupta P, Dubey JK, Patyal SK and Nath A (2001). Contamination of mother’s milk with pesticide residues. Pesticide Research journal. 13(2): 207-212.

Gupta P, Parihar NS and Singh V (1997). HCH and DDT residues in bovine milk and milk powder. Pesticide Research journal. 9(2): 235-237.

ICMR Report (1993). In surveliance of food contamination INDIA, Report of an ICMR Task Frorce Study (Part-1), New Delhi

IDF 9701 (1997). Monograph on residues and contaminant in milk and milk products. pp-58

Joachim P, Martin S and Andres K (2001) Mixture of four organochlorines enhances human breast cancer cell proliferation. Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (4): 391-97

Kannan K, Tanbe S, Ramesh A, Subramanian A and Tatsukawa R (1992) Persistent organochlorine residues in food stuff from India and their implication on human dietary exposure. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. 42: 518

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