PESTICIDE APPLICATION PRACTICES AND RESIDUE DYNAMICS IN FOOD CROPS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FOOD SAFETY

Abstract

This study examined pesticide residues in food crops (beans and groundnut) across five local government areas in Nasarawa South Senatorial District, Nigeria. It focused on pesticide use, safety practices and residue levels. Data from 430 respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square tests. QuEChERS extraction and GC-MS methods were employed for detection, identification, and quantification of residues. Pesticide residue recovery ranged from 70% to 130%, demonstrating the method's applicability to complex matrices. The findings revealed that most respondents were farmers (64.65%) using herbicides (73.95%) for crop protection (77.67%). Safety practices were suboptimal, with only 16.51% always reading labels and 39.53% not using any personal protective equipment (PPE). Health issues, notably skin irritation (39.77%) and respiratory problems (18.60%), were reported. Despite high awareness of alternatives to chemical pesticides (59.30%) and willingness to switch (77.44%), cost (33.95%) and lack of knowledge (42.09%) were major barriers. The Chi-square test established that there exist significant associations between the safety practices and locations. Post-hoc analysis revealed significant regional disparities in pesticide safety practices, with Lafia showing higher compliance in areas like label reading and use of protective clothing, while Doma, Awe, and Obi lag. The results of residue concentration analysis revealed that the analyzed food samples contained organochlorine, organophosphate, carbamate, and pyrethroid pesticides. In Doma, banned pesticides such as Ethion, Mirex, and DDT were detected at concentrations of 2.40E-04±2.36E-05 mg/kg, 1.13E-04±2.72E-06 mg/kg, and 2.33E-05±2.72E-06 mg/kg, respectively. The mean concentrations of all pesticide residues in the food samples were below the maximum residue limits.