Pesticides residues in retail meat and offal

Abstract

Pesticides are used extensively especially in developing countries like Egypt to control pest either in animal or in agriculture, which may lead to harmful residues in foods of animal origin. The current study was conducted to estimate the residue level of OC and pyrethroid in 320 beef and sheep samples (160each) collected from different shops at Beni-Suef governorate during summer and winter season. The collected samples were liver, muscle, kidney, and fat (80 each; 4o from each animal species).Among fourteen organochlorine compound examined, only Alpha HCH was detected in samples of cattle and sheep collected through winter season in a level below the MRL, while through summer season, only Alpha HCH and Delta HCH were detected in sheep samples in a level below the MRL. Pyrethroid pesticides residues represented by cypermethrin, deltamethrin, Esfenvalerate, permethrin were not detected through winter season, while they were detected in muscles of cattle and fat of sheep through summer season, while Labdacyhalothrin, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, Meothrin were detected in most of examined samples from different species through winter and summer seasons, most of these results revealed higher mean level than the maximum residue limits. From these results most of OC could not be detected may be due to these compounds not used science 1970, on other hand pyrethroid it still used nowadays in Egypt either in agriculture or as spray in animals to control ectoparasites spatially in summer season.