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      Co-exposure risks of pesticides residues and bacterial contamination in fresh fruits and vegetables under smallholder horticultural production systems in Tanzania

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          Abstract

          This study was carried out to investigate the risks of simultaneous exposure to pesticide residues and bacteria contaminants in locally produced fresh vegetables and vegetables in Tanzania. A total of 613 samples were analyzed for pesticide residues, out of which 250 were also analyzed for bacterial contamination. Overall, 47.5% had pesticide residues, 74.2% exceeded Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). Organophosphorus (95.2%), organochlorines (24.0%), pyrethroids (17.3%), and carbamates (9.2%) residues dominated. MRL values were mostly exceeded in tomatoes, onions, watermelons, cucumbers, Chinese cabbage, and sweet paper. Tetramethrin (0.0329–1.3733 mg/kg), pirimiphos-methyl (0.0003–1.4093 mg/kg), permethrin (0.0009–2.4537 mg/kg), endosulfan (beta) (0.0008–2.3416 mg/kg), carbaryl (0.0215–1.5068 mg/kg), profenofos (0.0176–2.1377 mg/kg), chlorpyrifos (0.0004–1.2549 mg/kg) and dieldrin (0.0011–0.5271 mg/kg) exceeded MRLs. The prevalence of bacteria contamination was high (63.2%). Enterobacter (55.6%) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (32.4%), E. coli (28.2%), Citrobacter (26.8%), Klebsiella oxytoca (14.8%), and Salmonella (7.7%) were isolated. Furthermore, 46.4% tested positive for both pesticide residues and bacterial contaminants. Vegetables from farms (60.7%) contained more dual contaminants than market-based vegetables (41.8%). This may have resulted from excessive pesticide use and unhygienic handling of fresh fruits and vegetables at production level. Binary logistic regression showed that fresh fruits and vegetables with pesticide residues were 2.231 times more likely to have bacteria contaminants (OR: 2.231; 95% CI: 0.501, 8.802). The contamination levels of pesticide residues and bacterial contaminants could be perceived as a serious problem as most fresh fruits and vegetables recorded values of pesticide residues far above the MRLs with pathogenic bacteria isolated in higher proportions. MRLs was higher in most vegetables consumed raw or semi-cooked such as watermelons, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and sweet paper. There is an urgent need to develop pesticide monitoring and surveillance systems at farmer level, educating farmers and promoting the use of greener pesticides to mitigate the health effects of pesticides and bacterial contaminants.

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          Farmer perceptions and pesticide use practices in vegetable production in Ghana.

          As an initial part of a programme aimed at promoting safe and sound agricultural practices in Ghana, a study was made of farmers' perceptions of pesticides for use and application in vegetable production, using a small survey of 137 farmers who applied pesticides. Field surveys, interviews, questionnaires and analytical games were used to obtain information on the type, scope and extent of use of pesticides, farmers' knowledge of pesticides, and their perceptions about the chemicals' potential for harm. Data from this sample of farmers were used to describe the status of use of pesticides in vegetable cultivation in Ghana. Using chi2 tests, associations between farmers' age and possible pesticide poisoning symptoms, their farm size and method of spraying pesticides, and their perception of pesticide hazard and its perceived effectiveness against pests were also examined. The survey showed that knapsack sprayers were the most widely used type of equipment for spraying pesticides. However, on large-scale vegetable farms of 6-10 acres, motorised sprayers were also used. Various inappropriate practices in the handling and use of pesticides caused possible poisoning symptoms among those farmers who generally did not wear protective clothing. Younger farmers ( 45 years of age). Farmers did not necessarily associate hazardous pesticides with better pest control. The introduction of well-targeted training programmes for farmers on the need for and safe use of pesticides is advocated. Copyright (c) 2006 Society of Chemical Industry.
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            Farmers' knowledge, practices and injuries associated with pesticide exposure in rural farming villages in Tanzania

            Background Pesticides in Tanzania are extensively used for pest control in agriculture. Their usage and unsafe handling practices may potentially result in high farmer exposures and adverse health effects. The aim of this study was to describe farmers’ pesticide exposure profile, knowledge about pesticide hazards, experience of previous poisoning, hazardous practices that may lead to Acute Pesticide Poisoning (APP) and the extent to which APP is reported. Methods The study involved 121 head- of-household respondents from Arumeru district in Arusha region. Data collection involved administration of a standardised questionnaire to farmers and documentation of storage practices. Unsafe pesticide handling practices were assessed through observation of pesticide storage, conditions of personal protective equipment (PPE) and through self-reports of pesticide disposal and equipment calibration. Results Past lifetime pesticide poisoning was reported by 93% of farmers. The agents reported as responsible for poisoning were Organophosphates (42%) and WHO Class II agents (77.6%). Storage of pesticides in the home was reported by 79% of farmers. Respondents with higher education levels were significantly less likely to store pesticides in their home (PRR High/Low = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1-0.7) and more likely to practice calibration of spray equipment (PRR High/Low = 1.2; 95% CI = 1.03-1.4). However, knowledge of routes of exposure was not associated with safety practices particularly for disposal, equipment wash area, storage and use of PPE . The majority of farmers experiencing APP in the past (79%) did not attend hospital and of the 23 farmers who did so in the preceding year, records could be traced for only 22% of these cases. Conclusions The study found a high potential for pesticide exposure in the selected community in rural Tanzania, a high frequency of self-reported APP and poor recording in hospital records. Farmers’ knowledge levels appeared to be unrelated to their risk. Rather than simply focusing on knowledge-based strategies, comprehensive interventions are needed to reduce both exposure and health risks, including training, improvements in labeling, measures to reduce cost barriers to the adoption of safe behaviours, , promotion of control measures other than PPE and support for Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
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              Pesticide residues in conventional, integrated pest management (IPM)-grown and organic foods: insights from three US data sets.

              An analysis of pesticide residue data was performed to describe and quantify differences between organically grown and non-organic fresh fruits and vegetables. Data on residues in foods from three different market categories (conventionally grown, integrated pest management (IPM)-grown/no detectable residues (NDR), and organically grown) were compared using data from three test programmes: The Pesticide Data Program of the US Department of Agriculture; the Marketplace Surveillance Program of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation; and private tests by the Consumers Union, an independent testing organization. Organically grown foods consistently had about one-third as many residues as conventionally grown foods, and about one-half as many residues as found in IPM/NDR samples. Conventionally grown and IPM/NDR samples were also far more likely to contain multiple pesticide residues than were organically grown samples. Comparison of specific residues on specific crops found that residue concentrations in organic samples were consistently lower than in the other two categories, across all three data sets. The IPM/NDR category, based on data from two of the test programmes, had residues higher than those in organic samples but lower than those in conventionally grown foods.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: MethodologyRole: Writing – original draft
                Role: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                15 July 2020
                2020
                : 15
                : 7
                : e0235345
                Affiliations
                [1 ] The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha, Tanzania
                [2 ] Tropical Pesticides Research Institute (TPRI), Arusha, Tanzania
                [3 ] Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Tiernan Hall Newark, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
                Queen’s University Belfast, UNITED KINGDOM
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9973-4498
                Article
                PONE-D-20-01490
                10.1371/journal.pone.0235345
                7363064
                32667930
                56e18815-5597-423d-806e-24c674509ee5

                This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

                History
                : 16 January 2020
                : 14 June 2020
                Page count
                Figures: 5, Tables: 9, Pages: 23
                Funding
                The grant was received by JAK. The study was funded by Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) in collaboration with Rikolto in Tanzania. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Agriculture
                Agrochemicals
                Pesticides
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Agriculture
                Pest Control
                Pesticides
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Vegetables
                Physical Sciences
                Materials Science
                Materials
                Contaminants
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Fruits
                Tomatoes
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Flowering Plants
                Onions
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Vegetables
                Onions
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Fruits
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Microbiology
                Medical Microbiology
                Microbial Pathogens
                Bacterial Pathogens
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
                Pathogens
                Microbial Pathogens
                Bacterial Pathogens
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Brassica
                Custom metadata
                All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

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                Uncategorized

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