Organochlorine pesticide residues in cheeses from León, Spain

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to know the residual levels of 9 organochlorine insecticides (lindane, heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, o,p'-TDE, p,p'-TDE, p,p'-DDE and p,p' - DDT) in cheese samples collected in León, in the north-west of Spain, in 1993 and 1994. The highest individual concentration detected was, in both years, for DDT: 0.9048 ppm (brand no. 6) in 1993 and 0.8581 ppm (brand no. 5) in 1994. The organochlorine pesticide mean load ranged from 0.0197 ppm to 0.3114 ppm in 1993, and from 0.0416 ppm to 0.3000 ppm in 1994. The most frequently detected pesticides were heptachlor epoxide (77.1%) in 1993 and lindane (62.5%) in 1994. None of the samples analyzed exceeded the maximum levels allowed by the present legislation.