Abstract

Summary The widespread application of pesticides in veterinary medicine, agriculture and public health can result in the accumulation of pesticides in the environment. Their residues may easily concentrate in foods (such as milk). These toxicants get into the human body through the food chain, and cause serious health problems. In this study, method adaptation for multiresidue analysis of some organochlorine (OC) and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides in raw milk samples, which were collected from Samsun province, determination of amounts and regional distributions of the residues and as a result, evaluation of probable hazards of determined residues for human health, were aimed. One hundred cow milk samples were collected from Samsun province, and analyzed for nine OC and five synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. Average recovery for OC and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides were in the range of 33-81% and 60-136%, respectively. The limit of detections (LODs) for OC and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides were determined 5-82 and 162-281 ng/kg (ppt), respectively. The limit of quantifications (LOQs) for OC and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides were measured 17-271 and 535-926 ng/kg, respectively. Any investigated pesticide residue was not detected in the all examined raw milk samples.