Organochlorine Pesticides Residues in the Breast Milk of Some Primiparae Mothers in La Com

This study was conducted to determine the types and levels of Organochlorine pesticide residues in the breast milk of 21 primiparae mothers in La, a suburb of Accra an urban community in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Liquid-liquid extraction procedure was employed and extract clean-up was done using silica gel solid phase extraction. Fourteen (14) different organochlorine pesticides residues namely p,p’-DDT, p,p’-DDE, gamma-HCH, delta-HCH, heptachlor, aldrin, Endrin, endrin-aldehyde, endrin-ketone, alpha-endosulphan, endosulphan-sulphate, gamma-chlordane, dieldrin, and methoxychlor were identified and quantified in the individual breast milk samples using a Gas Chromatograph (GC) with an Electron Capture detector. The GC recoveries of spiked samples were between 89 to 97%. P,p’DDE recorded 100% incidence ratio. Also p,p’-DDT, delta-HCH, gamma-HCH, and endosulfan sulfate recorded incidence ratios of 76.79, 95.25, 80.95 and 85.71%, respectively for the breast milk samples. The concentrations of organochlorine pesticide residues in the human breast milk samples ranged from 1.839 to 99.05 :g/kg fats. With the exception of Endosulphan Sulphate whose mean concentration (99.052 :g/kg) was above the Australian Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) of 20 :g/kg for milk, the mean concentrations for all the other organochlorines detected were below their respective limits.