First insights into the occurrence of pesticide residues in edible insects from sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract

Pesticide use is a common practice worldwide, especially in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, where ongoing agriculture intensification and the need for disease vector control make it essential. The population can thus be exposed to variable amounts of pesticides through the diet. Edible insects are a highly regarded food source in SSA. However, they are still mostly harvested from the wild, where chemical applications are not necessarily controlled, representing a major cause of concern for consumers. We investigated residues of legacy (OCPs) and current-use pesticides (CUPs) in selected edible insects commonly consumed in Uganda and Nigeria, and evaluated the eventual health risk for the adult population associated with their consumption. Targeted OCPs were < LOQ in all analysed edible insects, except for hexachlorobenzene (up to 0.87 ng/g dw), while several CUPs were present at notable levels. Cypermethrin showed the highest median concentration (17 ng/g dw), while the Nigerian cricket Brachytrupes membranaceus was the most contaminated sample, with concentrations of aldicarb, propoxur, chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos and paclobutrazol reaching 118 ng/g dw, 327 ng/g dw, 156 ng/g dw, 26 ng/dw, and 14 ng/g dw, respectively. The concentrations of pesticides were generally well below the available maximum residue levels (MRLs), and the dietary risk assessment did not indicate health threats for the adult population. However, we suggest that the monitoring of the chemical safety of edible insects in SSA should be further investigated and insects should be integrated into more extensive dietary studies.

Entomophagy practices, use patterns, and factors influencing perception and consumption frequency of edible insects in the Republic of Benin

“…Indeed, edible insects are mainly caught in cropping areas, where they are also considered by some farmers as crop pests and killed with pesticides. In fact, some studies showed that edible insects collected in crop fields have a high quantity of pesticide residues on and recommended their farm rearing according to appropriate regulations to ensure safety [43,44]. It would therefore be interesting to assess the level of pesticide residues contained in the main edible insects consumed in Benin.…”

What Can Insects Tell Us about the Use of Pesticides? The Detection and Quantification of Chlorpyrifos via QuEChERS and HEADSPACE-SPME Methods Using GC/MS/MS

“…Detecting pesticides within insects themselves serves multiple purposes, including verifying a pesticide's effectiveness against both target and non-target insects, acting as a bioindicator to ascertain the actual amount of pesticide reaching insects, and shedding light on how different insect groups respond to pesticide applications in crops. While these assessments are more commonly conducted on foods intended for human consumption due to methodological considerations, it is noteworthy to emphasize that there exists a specific number of studies directly measuring the detection of pesticide levels in insects [48]. Therefore, this approach presents several challenges, including determining the detectable concentration of pesticides within an insect's body and establishing the required sample size for effective detection.…”

Effects of pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides on reared black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens)

“…As such, even minimal transfer rates from substrate to insect biomass could lead to noncompliance of the produced larval biomass when used in feed or food. Varying levels of insecticides in collected or reared edible insects have recently been reported in, for instance, several African countries (Labu et al, 2022;Poma et al, 2022), Thailand (Kanthawongwan et al, 2019), Belgium (Poma et al, 2017), and Canada (Kolakowski et al, 2021)suggesting that the presence of insecticide residues in insect products marketed for human consumption are a cause for some concern. Therefore, these results warranted additional research on the effects of insecticide residues on BSFL.…”