Monitoring some pyrethroid pesticides residues in raw cow’s and buffalo’s milk

Synthetic pyrethroid pesticides are widely used in animal husbandry and agriculture in Egypt. Excessive use of these pesticide lead to their accumulation in foods of animal’s origin and cause health problems. Therefore, this study was conducted to detect the concentrations of some synthetic pyrethroids by HPLC in raw cow and buffalo’s milk samples collected from different local markets and farms at Damanhour, El-Behira governorate, Egypt. The obtained results revealed that Flumethrin, Deltamethrin, Cyhalothrin and Cypermethrin were detected at incidence rate  of 17.5 & 22.5; 25& 32.5; 15& 20 and 10 & 12.5% with a mean value of 36.14 ± 7.03 & 41.80 ± 7.91; 40.06 ± 8.71 & 52.70 ± 11.27; 24.65 ± 6.64 & 42.03 ± 8.25 and 89.27 ± 36.51& 121.58 ± 36.95 ppb, in cow and buffalo’s milk, respectively. α-cypermethrin could not be detected in any examined raw milk samples. Positive samples for synthetic pyrethroids residues compared with maximum residual limits established by international standards to detect samples below or above these limits. From the results in this study, farm milk was contaminated more than market’s milk which might be explained by presence of milk farms nearest to rural area where these synthetic pyrethroids are highly applied. This study would illustrate the risks of presence of synthetic pyrethroids residues in raw milk that threaten consumer health.