Monitoring of organochlorine pesticide residues in summer and winter vegetables from Agra, India - a case study.

Analysis of summer and winter vegetable samples during 2002-2003 for pesticidal contamination was carried out on Gas Chromatograph-Electron Capture Detector with capillary columns. The contamination levels of winter vegetables (average concentration of 4.57, 6.80 and 5.47 ppb respectively for Lindane, Endosulphan and DDT) were found to be slightly higher than the summer vegetables (average concentration of 4.47, 3.14 and 2.82 ppb respectively for Lindane, Endosulphan and DDT). The concentration of these organochlorine pesticides in summer and winter vegetables were well below the established tolerances but continuous consumption of such vegetables even with moderate contamination level can accumulate in the receptor's body and may lead to chronic effects that could be fatal.