Biomonitoring persistent organic pesticides residues in Indonesian farmers and agricultural products

Persistent Organic Pesticides have been banned for decades. Nevertheless, they are still being detected in environmental matrices. This study aimed to investigate the existence of some POPs in farmer blood and crops in Pati Regency, Indonesia. Blood samples from 59 farmers were monitored. This study revealed the existence of lindane residue mostly in chillis, heptachlor and aldrin with the highest level in shallots, dieldrin mainly in red peppers, endosulfan in cucumber, and DDT in shallots. Heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, and DDT were detected in farmer blood with average concentration of 4.48,3.79,8.70,4.81 ng.g'1, respectively. In conclusion, concentration of ZPOPs in crops ranged from 11.5 to 802.4 ng.g1 and from ND to 123.9 ng.g'1 in blood. In Indonesia, very little human biomonitoring data on toxic chemical are available. This study suggested the main pathways of exposure of fanners to POPs were through contaminated vegetable intake and directly through POPs application.