Abstract
Presence of pesticide residues in tobacco increases health risk of both active and passive smokers, apart from the imminent potential health problems associated with it. Thus, monitoring of pesticide residue is an important issue in terms of formulating stringent policies, enabling global trade and safeguarding the consumer’s safety. In this study, a gas chromatography-single quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method based upon quantifier-qualifier ions (m/z) ratio was employed for detecting and assessing ten organochlorine pesticide residues (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH, 2,4-DDT, 4,4-DDT, endrin, α-endosulfan, β-endosulfan and endosulfan sulphate) in 152 flue-cured (FC) tobacco leave samples from two major tobacco growing states, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, of India. In the majority of samples, pesticide residue levels were below the limit of quantification (LOQ). In few samples, pesticide residues were detected and they found to comply with the guidance residue levels (GRL) specifications of the Cooperation Center for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA). Detection of the phase out pesticides like DDT/HCH might be due to transfer of persistent residues from the environmental components to the plant. This is the first report on these ten organochlorine pesticide residues in Indian FC tobacco.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atallah, Y. H., & Dorough, H. W. (1975). Insecticide residues in cigarette smoke: transfer and fate in rats. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 23(1), 64–71.
Bakore, N., John, P. J., & Bhatnagar, P. (2004). Organochlorine pesticide residues in wheat and drinking water samples from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 98(1–3), 381–389.
Bowery, T. G., Gatterdam, P. E., Guthrie, F. E., & Rabb, R. L. (1965). Metabolism of insecticide residues, fate of inhaled C14TDE in rabbits. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 13(4), 356–359.
CEC (1976) Pesticide residues in tobacco and tobacco products. Information on agriculture. Brussels, 1, pp. 62
Chapman, S. (2003). Keep a low profile: pesticide residue, additives, and freon use in Australian tobacco manufacturing. Tobacco Control, 12(Suppl lll), iii45–iii53.
Chen, X., Bian, Z., Hou, H., Yang, F., Liu, S., Tang, G., et al. (2013). Development and validation of a method for the determination of 159 pesticide residues in tobacco by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 61(24), 5746–5757.
Clapp, W. L., & Shelar, G. R. (1972). The determination of chlorinated pesticides in mainstream smoke. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cdv69d00. Accessed 25 October 2012.
Clark, T., Kaußmann, E., Römer, E., & Schepers, G. (1998). The fate of imidacloprid in tobacco smoke of cigarettes made from imidacloprid-treated tobacco. Pesticide Science, 52, 119–125.
CORESTA GUIDE No. 1 (2013). The concept and implementation of agrochemical guidance residue levels. http://www.coresta.org/Guides/Guide-No01-GRLs(3rd-Issue-July13).pdf. Accessed 21 December 2013.
FAO (2012). FAOSTAT 2010. http://faostat.fao.org. Accessed 22 February 2013.
GAO (2003). Pesticides on tobacco. Federal activities to assess risks and monitor residues. www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-485. Accessed 27 December 2012.
Kumari, B., Madan, V. K., Singh, J., Singh, S., & Kathpal, T. S. (2004). Monitoring of pesticidal contamination of farmgate vegetables from Hisar. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 90(1–3), 65–71.
Lorenz, W., Bahadir, M., & Korte, F. (1987). Thermolysis of pesticide residues during tobacco smoking. Chemosphere, 16(2), 521–522.
Lowman, F. (1972). Pesticide residue - DDT. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wvj35e00. Accessed 20 October 2012.
Mahdavian, S. E., & Somashekar, R. K. (2013). Orgnochlorine and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides in agricultural soil and water from Chamaranagar district, Karnataka, India. Journal of Environmental Science and Water Resources, 2(7), 221–225.
Morris, P. (1972). Chlorinated pesticide residues in Australian cigarettes. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/rvj35e00. Accessed 20 October 2012.
Moser, F. (1984). Cigarette analysis results, FTR Research and Development. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ksk29e00. Accessed 3 April 2013.
Mukherjee, I., & Gopal, M. (2002). Organochlorine insecticide residues in drinking and ground water in and around Delhi. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 76(2), 185–193.
Prakash, O., Suar, M., Raina, V., Dogra, C., Pal, R., & Lal, R. (2004). Residues of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers in soil and water samples from Delhi and adjoining areas. Current Science, 87(1), 73–77.
Rahman, M. A., Chowdhury, A. Z., Moniruzzaman, M., Gan, S. H., Islam, M. N., Fardous, Z., et al. (2012). Pesticide residues in tobacco leaves from the Kushtia district in Bangladesh. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 89(3), 658–663.
Rodgman, A., & Perfetti, T. A. (2013). The Chemical Components of Tobacco and Tobacco Smoke, Florida: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
SANCO/12495 (2011). Method validation and quality control procedures for pesticide residues analysis in food and feed. http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/protection/pesticides/docs/qualcontrol_en.pdf. Accessed 20 April 2013.
Speck, M. (1988). Pesticide residue analysis. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vpm32e00. Accessed 10 May 2013.
Tobacco Board (2013) Exports of tobacco and tobacco products, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. http://tobaccoboard.com/admin/statisticsfiles/Web_Expo_Mar2013.pdf. Accessed 27 June 2013.
WHO (2011) Warning about the dangers of tobacco. http://www.who.int/tobacco/global_report/2011/en/. Accessed 13 April 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ghosh, R.K., Khan, Z.S., Rao, C.V.N. et al. Assessment of organochlorine pesticide residues in Indian flue-cured tobacco with gas chromatography-single quadrupole mass spectrometer. Environ Monit Assess 186, 5069–5075 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3760-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3760-3