Assessment of Organochlorine Pesticides Residues in Fish Sold in Abidjan Markets and Fishing Sites

This study aimed to investigate the organochlorine pesticide residues in fish sold in markets and fishing sites in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Pesticides are not only used in agriculture but also in public health for the prevention of malaria. However, pesticide residues may be found in foodstuffs. Contamination of foods by pesticides can give rise to carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects. Pesticides are also accountable for toxic effects on the nervous, immune, reproductive, renal, hepatic and hematopoietic systems. For the present study, one hundred fish specimens representing five fish species collected from markets and fishing sites were analyzed. Analyses were performed with the help of a Gas Chromatograph (GC), brand Agilent Instruments 6890N equipped with two micro-electrons capture detectors (μECD), two Zebron capillary columns (ZB-5MS and ZB-1701P; 30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 μm), an automatic injector and monitored by a microcomputer equipped with the ChemStation plus software version 2002. The injection was done in Splitless mode and Nitrogen N50 was used as vector gas. Of the 16 organochlorine pesticides considered in this study, 11 were present in the samples analyzed, at various concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 14.4 μg.kg-1 of fresh product. Samples were mostly contaminated by Dichloro Diphenyl Dichloroethane (DDD). The catfish, with a total average concentration (27.2 μg.kg-1 of fresh product) was the most contaminated species. Heads (27.8 μg.kg-1 of fresh product) and viscera (17.5 μg.kg-1 of fresh product) were, respectively the most contaminated parts of the fish species analyzed. The fishing port of Vridi was the most contaminated site. The species collected on this site presented a total average concentration of 24.4 μg.kg-1 of fresh product. The comparison of total concentration mean of organochlorine pesticides in species collected, with the maximum residue limits (MRL) set for the fishery products, suggests that health risks faced by populations in Abidjan through fish consumption are currently low.