Pesticide exposure from fresh tomatoes and its relationship with pesticide application practices in Meru district

Abstract

Tomato pesticides health risk was assessed in Meru district of Arusha region, one of the key tomato producers in Tanzania. Tomato samples and consumption information were collected from 50 farmers using Food and Drug Administration standards and twice administered twenty-four hour recall questionnaire respectively. Analysis for pesticide residues was done using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. Dietary pesticide exposure was estimated deterministically by combining pesticide residue levels and tomato consumption levels. Pesticide levels were detected for; permethrin (mean, 5.2899 mg/kg/day), chlorpyrifos (mean, 7.5281 mg/kg/day) and ridomil (mean, 2,854.279 mg/kg/day) in 18% of samples. Health Risk Indices, determined as ratio of estimated daily intake to acceptable daily exposure, for chlorpyrifos, permethrin and ridomil were greater than one. This implies that, lifetime consumption of fresh tomatoes can pose health risk for chlorpyrifos, permethrin and ridomil. Awareness raising on good practices for pesticide application and food safety strengthening are recommended to protect public health against pesticides. This paper has explored pesticide application practices during tomato production and its implication to pesticide residues and the associated risks of dietary pesticide exposure.It has been found that, pesticide residues found in tomatoes are higher than the recommended limits and might cause health risks to consumers. These findings will provide evidence for policy makers to develop strategies of reducing risk to consumers and serve as a basis of training farmers on pesticide use as well as strengthen food safety system in Tanzania. In the long run, safe tomatoes will be consumed and the public will be protected from any fatal health risks associated with pesticides exposure.This will consequently, promote health and nutrition wellbeing of tomato consumers in Tanzania and the nearby countries.

Types and Classification of Pesticides Used on Tomatoes Grown in Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kirinyaga County, Kenya

“…6, 7 and 8), which were a major problem in Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Similar results indicating use of insecticides and fungicides to control enormous pests and diseases on tomatoes was reported by Mueke [27] in Mwea sub-county; in Tanzania [30], major horticultural zones in Kenya [18,19], and other African countries [31,32]. (Figs.…”

“…Similar findings were reported by [18] in Kathiani District, Kenya that farmers mainly applied pyrethroids and carbamates on vegetables. WHO class II pesticides are toxic and their residues are likely to remain in the crop when used inappropriately [30]. Toxicological studies [33,34] have revealed that some pesticides (eaten in food) could cause human health effects ranging from short-term, such as headache, nausea and diarrhoea, to long-term effects, such as cancer, teratogenesis and damage to the immune system, among others have been linked to pesticides [7,35,36].…”

Occupational Safety and Health Practices In Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisations, Western Kenya Region

“…The statistics tests indicate that there is no significant difference between the two centres when it comes to knowledge of mixing pesticides to achieve sound results. Mixing and loading remain a potential source of pesticide exposures (Kariathi et al, 2016). This is supported by Cornell (1992) study that pesticides must only be issued to staff who has appropriate training.…”

Risk of exposures of pesticide residues from tomato in Tanzania

“…In view of the worries, there is an urgent need to generate more data on levels of pesticide residues in tomato and other food products from Tanzania and use the data to perform a risk assessment to estimate the risk of exposure of pesticide residues in Tanzania. The outcome of the exposure assessment and those of the recent assessment by Kariathi et al (2016) can be used in advising the government on strategies that can be employed to prevent improper application of pesticides in food production and protect the general public from exposure of pesticides. These will ensure permanent access to safe food products by all the consumers and protect them from health effects of pesticides.…”

“…There is limited information on health effects associated with pesticide dietary exposure from pesticide contaminated foods in Tanzania, hence efforts need to be taken to generate such information. The only available information was generated by Kariathi et al (2016) whereby they investigated pesticide exposure from fresh tomatoes.…”