Levels of selected pesticide residues in Cocoa beans from the Western and Central Regions of Ghana

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2015-07-12
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Abstract
The main objective of this work is to determine the levels of pesticide residues in cocoa beans from Western and Central Regions of Ghana to determine their suitability for consumption using Gas Chromatography with Electron Capture Detector. Twenty samples were collected and analysed. The investigated pesticides were Chloropyrifos, Endosulfan (I and II), Profenefos, Fenvalerate, Bifenthrin, Permethrin (I and II), Cypermethrin (I, II and T), HCH (α, β, γ and δ), Aldrin, Heptachlor – exo – epoxide, Dieldrin, 4,4 – DDD, 4,4 – DDT and Heptachlor. A multiresidue proceedure was used in the extraction. Bond Elute ENVI – 18 and ENVI – Carb/LC – NH2 were used for clean - up. The recoveries ranged between 65% and 123%. The concentration of chloropyrifos was highest among all the pesticides detected with range of 4.39 – 11.87 mg/kg for cocoa beans samples from the Central and 6.67 – 14.00 mg/kg for cocoa bean sample from the Western Region. Aldrin was not detected in samples from both Central and Western Region. Comparing the concentrations of the pesticides with the MRLs, Chloropyrifos (4.39 – 11.87 mg/kg) and Cypermethrin II (0.12 – 1.82 mg/kg) concentrations in all the cocoa beans samples from Central Region exceeded the MRLs set by the EU and Japan. Chloropyrifos (6.67 – 14.00 mg/kg), Permethrin II (0.20 – 2.16 mg/kg) and Cypermethrin II (0.15 – 3.46 mg/kg) in cocoa bean samples from Western Region also exceeded the MRLs set by the EU and Japan. None of the cocoa beans samples from the Central Region exceeded the MRLs set by EU and Japan for Bifenthrin. None of the samples from the Western Region exceeded the MRLs set by the EU for 4, 4 – DDD and 4, 4 – DDT.
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A dissertation submitted to the Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fufillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY. 2015
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