PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN INDIAN MAJOR CARPS REARED IN WASTEWATER

The use of pesticides in agricultural fields and public health care has led to transport and accumulation of pesticide residues in different environmental compartments including the water bodies like ponds, lakes, wetlands, rivers and estuaries are quite often found to be contaminated with pesticides as a result of run–off and discharges from different sources. Since pesticides are toxic chemicals, they adversely affect the non target organisms including fish, a common protein source to human. The present study was undertaken with the objective to find the extent and level of any persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCP) residue in edible fishes grown in waste waters, namely Mudiyali Fisheries Co-operative society and Rahara fish farm, West Bengal, India. The results revealed the presence of DDT and endosulfan in muscles and gills of Indian Major Carps (IMC) like Rohu (Labeo rohita), Catla (Catla catla) and Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) reared in wastewater. However, the level of the pesticide residues found in IMCs were below the tolerance limits (TL) set by FSSAI which indicated that those fishes were safe for consumption. But, emphasis should be laid on continuous monitoring program from food safety point of view.