Determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in pasteurized and sterilized milk using QuEChERS sample preparation followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Although pesticides are widely used for preventing foods from pests, there are some legal regulations about pesticide residues in foods because of their negative impact on human health. Organochlorine pesticide residues in pasteurized and UHT milk samples were determined by QuEChERS sample preparation method followed by GC/MS. Despite they are prohibited, varying levels of heptachlor (up to 65.42 mu g/kg), heptachlor epoxide (up to 2.62 mu g/kg), aldrin (up to 3.86 mu g/kg), 4,4(1)-DDE (up to 4.28 mu g/kg), dieldrin (up to 4.85 mu g/kg), 2,4(1)-DDT (up to 7.32 mu g/kg), and beta-endosulfan (up to 4.74 mu g/kg) were detected. The incidence of pesticide residues in the samples was between 2.22% and 97.78%. It was determined that total pesticide residue amounts ranged between 27.04 and 74.69 mu g/kg, and the majority of the total pesticide residue amounts belonged to heptachlor. In addition, it was determined that total pesticide residue amounts in UHT milk samples were higher than pasteurized milk samples. Due to the fact that pesticides are widely used in order to eliminate pests, consumption of pesticides increases. This situation has led to the emergence of many important problems in terms of environmental pollution and human health such as cancer, birth abnormalities, and nervous system diseases. Therefore, residual analysis, monitoring, and risk assessment of food are gaining importance every day. Although the use of some pesticides is prohibited, the present study shows that these pesticides could be detected in both pasteurized and UHT milk samples. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the control of pesticides. Practical applications