Assessment of organochlorine pesticide residues in West African city farms: Banjul and Dakar case study.

Validated analytical procedures for the determination of 21 organochlorine pesticides have been applied to 74 water samples, 76 soil samples, and 160 vegetable samples from nine Sene-Gambian farms. Mean pesticide residue levels found were compared to the results of other studies. The main contaminants were DDTs in water (231.9 ng/L), in soil (71.4 ng/g), and in vegetables (5.03 ng/g). The distribution of pesticide residues in water and neighboring soils and the soil-plant transfer of these pesticides is briefly discussed. Different bioconcentration factors for sum HCHs, sum DDTs, and sum endosulfans obtained in this study allow us to confirm the complex processes already reported in the literature concerning the uptake and translocation of chemicals from soil to plant.

Persistent chlorinated pesticides in fish and cattle fat and their implications for human serum concentrations from the Sene-Gambian region.

The concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in fish, shrimps, cattle fat and human serum samples from the Sene-Gambian region were measured using validated analytical methodologies. The results obtained were compared with those of other existing African studies and with data from other developing countries. In fish samples, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) and HCB were detected with a frequency of 100%, whereas p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT) was detected in eight, heptachlorepoxide in six and endosulfansulfate in five of the nine fish samples. Relatively low concentrations of OCPs were found in cattle and shrimp fat samples. p,p'-DDE and alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) were the most frequently identified. The sum of HCHs ranged from undetected to 13.3 ng g-1 fat, the sum of DDTs from 11.1 to 199.2 ng g-1 fat and the sum of endosulfans from not detected to 49.7 ng g-1 fat in fish and shrimps. In serum samples, alpha-HCH, p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDT were detected in all 16 pooled serum samples, whereas endosulfansulfate, methoxychlor, mirex, heptachlorepoxide and endrin were detected in 15 samples with most of the concentrations below 10 ng mL-1. The concentrations of OCPs in human serum were given on a serum lipid and whole serum volume basis. The implications for the human diet of these OCP concentrations in serum were investigated by means of biomagnification factors related to the log Kow values of the targeted compounds. The current use of HCH mixtures was suggested to explain the unusually high alpha-HCH concentration. The distribution pattern of these OCPs in humans was also discussed and compared with that in other studies.

Persistent chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in selected fish species from Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, Africa.

Concentrations of selected organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in seven fish species (cichlids) from the north end of the Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, Africa were determined. Results were compared to previous work on the Lake Tanganyika and other water bodies and to the European Community maximum residue levels (MRLs) in edible fat. The analytical method included a hot Soxhlet extraction with a mixture of acetone: hexane (1:3, v/v), gravimetrically lipid determination, and a single step clean-up. For PCBs and stable pesticides, the clean-up was done on activated silica gel impregnated with concentrated sulfuric acid, while for non acid-stable pesticides superposed layers of alumina, silica and florisil impregnated with 15% methanolic solution of KOH were successively used. Recoveries of organochlorine pesticides from certified reference material (CRM 430) were ranging from 86% for p,p'-DDT to 107% for endrin, while recoveries from blank fat spiked fortified at three different levels were between 65% for alachlor at the lowest fortification level and 107% for mirex at the highest fortification level. The limits of detection for each analyte were ranging from 0.1 ng/g to 0.5 ng/g fat. All chlorinated pesticides were found in the analyzed species but at low concentrations. Boulengerochromis microlepis contained the highest concentrations of HCHs (288.2 +/- 15.5 ng/g fat) and DDTs (909.1 +/- 42.5 ng/g fat), while the highest PCB levels (166.7 +/- 37.4 ng/g fat for the sum of 12 congeners) were found in Oreochromis niloticus. However, there is no evidence that Lake Tanganyika is more contaminated with pesticides than other African water bodies.

A case of aldicarb poisoning: a possible murder attempt.

A couple showing signs of cholinergic crisis was admitted to the hospital. Analyses with high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry conducted on serum, urine, and stomach contents that were collected few hours after first symptoms showed the presence of aldicarb, which is the most potent carbamate insecticide on the market. A murder attempt was suspected because the patients showed the first signs some minutes after drinking coffee upon returning home and no commercial products containing aldicarb were found in the house. Because of the reversibility of inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, the patients recovered after treatment with atropine and toxogonin. They left the hospital after 12 days. To our knowledge, the serum concentrations of aldicarb reported in this paper are the highest reported for a nonfatal case.