1. To,
Dr. A.V Sheraslya
Editor
Veterinary World
Sub: Submission of the manuscript for the publication.
Dear Sir,
I am enclosing herewith hard copy of below-mentioned article along with floppy for
kind consideration in your esteemed journal, Veterinary World. I will be submitted the
subscription fees at the time of paper acceptance (P. Kumar is also your journal
subscriber). The articles are being also sent by E-mail as attachments.
Pesticide residues in milk and their effect on livestock & human being by Mukesh K.
Raikwar, Subir K. Nag, Manoj Singh and Puneet Kumar
Kindly acknowledge the receipt of the same.
With kind regards
Yours sincerely
(Mukesh K. Raikwar)
Address for correspondence:
Mukesh K. Raikwar
Senior Research Fellow
Protein Nutrition Laboratory
Division of Animal Nutrition
Indian Veterinary Research Institute
Izatnagar – 243 122, Bareilly
U.P., India

2. Pesticide residues in milk and their effect on livestock & human being
Mukesh K. Raikwar1
, Subir K. Nag2
, Manoj Singh1
and Puneet Kumar1
Indian Veterinary Research Institute
Izatnagar, Bareilly (U.P.)
Pesticide is a general term for substance which is used as a poison for killing
the weeds, insect, molds, rodents etc. Insecticides and rodenticides are most
dangerous for human being. Not every pesticide is actually toxic for humans or other
non target species (Aspelin, 1994). Synthetic pesticides have been popular with
farmers because of their simplicity in application, efficacy and economic returns.
In India 179 active ingredients of different pesticides including botanicals and
microbial products are registered for used, on the basis of used pattern markets share
of insecticide in maximum(74%) followed by fungicides (14%), herbicides(11%) and
others (1%) showed in fig-1.
Fig: 1 (Source – Pesticide information, volume XXVII, No-1, April-June 2002)
In Indian market the growth of pesticides has been phenomenal, while only
200MT of pesticides was consumed in 1955 but in 1994-1995 the figure was 8000
MT. After that there was decline in the consumption in 1999-2000, only 54133 MT
1
Division of Animal Nutrtion, IVRI, Izatnagar, Bareilly (U.P.)
2
PAR Division, IGFRI, Jhasi, U.P.
Indian Agrochemical Sales
74%
11%
14%
1%
Insecticide
Herbicide
Fungicide
other

3. pesticides were applied (Agnihotri, 2000). The reduction may be attributed primarily
due to ban or restriction to the use of some organochlorine pesticides like aldrin,
dieldrin, heptachlor, DDT, HCH (BHC) etc. which have higher rate and partially due
to use of natural product like botanical pesticide, microbial pesticide and adoption of
IPM programme to some extent.
The use of pesticide leads, residues on crop at harvest. The term pesticides
residues may be defined as some specific substances in food, agriculture commodity
for animal feed resulting from the use of pesticide. However, pesticide applied on a
crop or commodity. In other words, any substances to use the control pest, disease,
weeds etc. day invariably leave toxic residues in the substrate on which they are
applied. The amount of residues left depend on the nature of chemical, dose and
volume of application, nature of substance and prevailing weather condition etc.
Classification of pesticides: Chemicals/pesticides are toxic xenobiotics which can be
classified on the basis of different criteria such to use, chemical classes, mode of
action and toxicity. However, the main common and convenient classification is given
as under:
Algaecides: Control algae in lakes, canols, swimming pools etc.
Antimicrobes: Kill microorganism (such bacteria and virus)
Disinfectants/ Sanitizers: Kill or inactive diseases producing microorganism on/in
animal surfaces
Fungicides: kill fungi (like blight, mildews, molds and rust)
Fumigants: Produces gas/ vapor intended to destroy pests in building or soil
Herbicides: Used to control unwanted plants (weeds). Herbicides may be combined
with other material; such weeds and seed products.
Insecticides: Kill insects and other anthropoids.
Nematocides: Kill nematodes (nosegemented) round worms the infect roots by
certain crops.
Pheromones: Biochemical’s used to disrupt the mating behavior of insects.
Repellents: Repel pests, including insects such as mosquitoes and birds.
Rodenticides: Control mice, rats and other rodents.
Sources & entry of pesticides in animal body systems: The contamination
of milk products with pesticides residues is never as a results as direct treatment of
mil or milk products. There are three possible ways by which pesticides can enter into

4. the animal body. The possibility contamination of milk and milk product with DDT
and HCH are mainly through feed and fodder (Mukherjee and Gopal, 1993; Raikwar
and Nag, 2003) and some times dues to spraying of anima dwellings to keep the
animals free from insects pest. The feed material may be contaminated by pesticides
either at the time of cultivation of the crops in the field from which have been
prepared like oilseed crops (mustard seed cake, linseed cake, sesamum seed cake,
cotton seed cake) cereals (paddy, wheat, maize etc). Pesticide also used in a large
scale for their useful properties to kill ectoparasites like ticks, mites, insect on the
animal body through skin pores when applied by drenching. DDT deposit on wall
gradually volatilizes and vapors are absorbed into the animal body through inhalation
and direct absorption through skin. Some time drinking water may also be a source of
contamination. Adverse health effects are not expected from consuming milk with
pesticides below the maximum residue limits. Potential health effects in people
consuming pesticides above the maximum residue limits depend upon the kind and
amount of pesticide, how long the person has been consuming that milk, and the
person's overall health.
Fig 2: Sources of Contamination of pesticides residues in milk.
Pesticides residue in milk: Pesticides, which have an affinity for lipid material and
are not biodegradable, accumulate in animal systems such pesticides, cause
contamination of animal products like milk, meat, egg and fruits etc. The residues of
these pesticides animal products are also decline a very slow rate, even after sources
International Spray Unintentional Spray
Animal Feed
Grazing land contact Animal Environment, water, air
and soil
Milk
Milk Products
Environment, Water, air Contaminated ingredients

5. of contamination are eliminated. Survey of tropical countries showed almost universal
presence of DDT and HCH in milk samples. In India, lot of work has been done in
since 1972-to date. (Dhaliwal and Karla, 1977; Sandhu, 1979; Battu et al., 1996;
Gupta et al, 1997; Gupta et al, 2001; Nag and Raikwar, 2002; 2003; 2004 )
Contamination of bovine milk organochlorine pesticides particularly with DDT and
HCH was first reported in 60’s and 70’s from Delhi area and Punjab (Dhaliwal and
Karla, 1977). The fifteen samples of dairy milk and 4 samples of milk product
analysed had residues leaves ranging from 0.022 to 0.166 mg/kg for HCH and 0.042to
0.382 mg/kg for DDT (Mukherjee and Gopal, 1993). The levels of DDT and HCH in
milk and milk product, are very alarming (Kannan et al. 1992; ICMR Report, 1993;
Wadhwa et al. 2000).
Maximum Residues Limits: It is the maximum concentration for a pesticide residue
crop or food commodity. It is express in mg/kg. Maximum residues limits of
Organochlorine pesticides for milk and milk products recommended by FAO/ WHO
(1996) and IDF (1997) are given in table -1
Table -1 Maximum Residues Limits (MRL) of organochlorine pesticides for milk and
milk products (mg/kg) recommended by FAO/ WHO-1996, IDF 1997)
Pesticide MRL(mg/kg)
on fat basis
MRLa
(mg/kg) on
fat basis
Aldrin 0.006 0.15
Dialdrin 0.006 0.15
Chlordane 0.002 0.05
DDT 0.05 1.25
Endosulfan 0.004 0.1
Endrin 0.0008 0.02
Heptachlor 0.006 0.15
Methoxychlor 0.02 0.5
Hexachlorobenzene 0.02 0.5
α-HCH b
0.05 1.25
β-HCH b
0.02 0.2
γ-HCH (Lindane) 0.01 0.5
Σ-HCH b
0.02 0.5
a: Express on fat basis assuming that milk contain 4% fat
b: Provisional tolerance recommended by central Committee of food Standards, India
Health impacts of pesticides residues in milk
Among the different classes of pesticides, organochlorine pesticides are an
important class due to their slow decomposition rate, long half-life and high stability
in the environment. They are persistent in the environment and accumulate in the

6. upper tropic levels of food chains (Raju et al., 1982; Kocan and Landolt, 1989; Gallo
and Lawryk, 1991). Mild cases of poisoning are characterized by headache,dizziness,
gastrointestinal disturbances, numbness and weakness of the extremities,
apprehension and hyperirritability. When absorbed into the body, chlorinated
hydrocarbons are not metabolized rapidly and are stored in the fat.
Organophosphorus pesticides are all derivatives of phosphoric acid. They
contain phosphorous, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and frequently sulphur. This group is
less persistent in soil, food and feed for animals than the organochorine pesticides.
They break down into nontoxic metabolites. With a few notable exceptions, members
of this group are highly toxic and all act as cholinesterase inhibitors. Cholinesterase is
an enzyme in the human body that is essential to the normal functioning of the
nervous system. Inhibition of the activity of the cholinesterase enzyme prevents
neural signals from being transmitted from the brain to various parts of the body.
Symptoms of this inhibition include excess salivation, difficulty in breathing, blurred
vision, cramps, nausea and vomiting, rapid or slow heart rate, headache, weakness
and giddiness. The organophosphorous pesticides affect and damage the nervous
system and can cause cancer. They can cause reproductive and endocrinal damage
also.
Studies of the health effects of pesticides on humans focus on two aspects, the
acute toxicity, or immediate effects resulting from short-term exposure, and the
chronic toxicity, or effects resulting from more-prolonged exposures.
Toxic Effects of Human being
a) Acute effects
The short-term toxicity of a chemical, manifested over a period of hours or days, is
referred to as its acute toxicity. Acute toxicity, typically, is expressed as the
concentration required killing 50 per cent of a population of test animals such as
laboratory rats either through ingestion or through contact with the skin. These lethal
concentrations can vary greatly from one pesticide to another.
b) Chronic effects
Contaminants are more likely to cause chronic health effects that occur long
after repeated exposure to small amounts of a chemical. Examples of chronic health

7. effects include cancer, liver and kidney damage, disorders of the nervous system,
damage to the immune system, and birth defects. Evidence relating chronic health
effects to specific drinking water contaminants is limited. In the absence of exact
scientific information, On the basis of their chronic toxic effects, organic chemicals
are grouped into the following three major classes: carcinogens, mutagens, and
teratogens.
Any chemical that causes cancer in either a direct or an indirect form is called
a carcinogen. Pesticides heptachlor, aldrin and dieldrin, are known to produce cancer
in animals. Pesticides like DDT, HCH, dieldrin, etc, enter our bodies through the food
we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Fish and other animals we
consume in our diets are also exposed to these toxins the same way. These chemicals
don't degrade and are stored in our fat tissues. Most of the toxic chemicals found in
our water supply are fat soluble, which means they remain in a person's body for long
periods of time. The incidence of breast cancer in women is increasing and in vivo and
in vitro studies have shown that organochlorines promote mammary cancer (Joachim
et al., 2001).
REFERENCES
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Aspelin AL (1994) Pesticides industry sales and usage, 1992 and 1993 market
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