Occurrence of Pesticides Associated to Atmospheric Aerosols: Hazard and Cancer Risk Assessments

Since the 1950s, pesticides have been used in agriculture. The increase in their consumption has been observed in recent years. In this work, it was determined the concentration of pesticides in the atmosphere of S ão Paulo and Piracicaba cities (sugarcane plantation site) and the hazard quotients and cancer risk caused by inhalation of these compounds were calculated. Twenty-three samples were analyzed and 34 pesticides associated to atmospheric particulate matter (with diameter equal to or less than 2.5 (PM 2.5) and 10 µm (PM10)) were investigated by gas chromatograpy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Fourteen compounds including organochlorines, organophosphorus, and pyrethroids pesticides, were determined in these samples. The concentrations in the particulate matter ranged from 17 pg m − 3 (tebuconazole) in Piracicaba, to 166 pg m − 3 (endrin aldehyde) in S ão Paulo. The highest values of daily inhalation exposure for heptachlor were 9.0 × 10 − 5mg kg − 1 day − 1 at Piracicaba, and 6.5 × 10 − 5 mg kg − 1 day − 1 at S ão Paulo, in both cases registered in infants. The values of the hazard quotients are lower than 1.0, indicating that there is no danger to the exposed population, it is health protective. On the other hand, the cancer risk calculations for heptachlor resulted in values above those recommended by U S Environmental Protection Agecy (EPA).
Source: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research