Skip to main content

Pesticide and Pathogen Contamination of Vegetables in Ghana’s Urban Markets

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology volume 50, pages 1–6 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine and compare the current level of exposure of the Ghanaian urban population to hazardous pesticide and fecal coliform contamination through the consumption of fresh vegetables produced in intensive urban and periurban smallholder agriculture with informal wastewater irrigation. A total of 180 vegetable samples (lettuce, cabbage, and spring onion) were randomly collected under normal purchase conditions from 9 major markets and 12 specialized selling points in 3 major Ghanaian cities: Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. The samples were analyzed for pesticide residue on lettuce leaves, total and fecal coliforms, and helminth egg counts on all three vegetables. Chlopyrifos (Dursban) was detected on 78% of the lettuce, lindane (Gamalin 20) on 31%, endosulfan (Thiodan) on 36%, lambda-cyhalothrin (Karate) on 11%, and dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane on 33%. Most of the residues recorded exceeded the maximum residue limit for consumption. Vegetables from all 3 cities were fecally contaminated and carried fecal coliform populations with geometric mean values ranging from 4.0 × 103 to 9.3 × 108 g–1 wet weight and exceeded recommended standards. Lettuce, cabbage, and spring onion also carried an average of 1.1, 0.4, and 2.7 helminth eggs g–1, respectively. The eggs were identified as those of Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale, Schistosoma heamatobium, and Trichuris trichiura. Because many vegetables are consumed fresh or only slightly cooked, the study shows that intensive vegetable production, common in Ghana and its neighboring countries, threatens public health from the microbiologic and pesticide dimensions. Standard recommendations to address this situation (better legislations, law enforcement, or integrated pest management) often do not match the capabilities of farmers and authorities. The most appropriate entry point for risk decrease that also addresses postharvest contamination is washing vegetables before food preparation at the household or “chop” bar (street restaurant).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  • Arde-Acquah AA (2002) Sanitation and health-related problems of street-vended foods in Accra. In: SADAOC (2002) Street food in Ghana: Types, environment, patronage, laws and regulations. Proceedings of a roundtable conference on 6-9-01. ISSER, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, pp 57–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Armar-Klemesu M, Akpedonu P, Egbi G, Maxwell D (1998) Food contamination in urban agriculture: Vegetable production using wastewater. In: Armar-Klemesu M, Maxwell D (eds) Urban agriculture in the greater Accra metropolitan area. Final report to IDRC (Project No. 003149), University of Ghana, Noguchi Memorial Institute, Accra, Ghana

  • American Public Health Association—American Water Works Association–Water Environment Association (2001) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 22nd ed. American Public Health Association—American Water Works Association–Water Environment Association, Washington DC

  • Clarke EE, Levy LS, Spurgeon A, Calvert IA (1997) The problem associated with pesticide use by irrigation workers in Ghana. Occup Med 47:301–308

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cofie OO, Drechsel P (2004) Water for food in the cities: The growing paradigm of irrigated (peri)-urban agriculture and its struggle in sub-Saharan Africa. Afr Water J 1 (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornish GA, Mensah E, Ghesquire P (1999) An assessment of surface water quality for irrigation and its implication for human health in the peri-urban zone of Kumasi, Ghana. Report OD/TN 95 September 1999. HR Wallingford, Wallingford, UK

  • Danso G, Drechsel P, Fialor SC (2002) Perception of organic agriculture by urban vegetable farmers and consumers in Ghana. Urban Agric Mag 6:23–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Drechsel P, Abaidoo RC, Amoah P, Cofie OO (2000) Increasing use of poultry manure in and around Kumasi, Ghana: Is farmers’ race consumers’ fate? Urban Agric Mag 2:25–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Drechsel P, Blumenthal UJ, Keraita B (2002) Adjusting wastewater irrigation guidelines for resource-poor countries. Urban Agric Mag 8:7–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaspard P, Ambolet Y, Schwartzbrod J (1997) Valorisation des boues de stations d’epuration en vue de l’amelioration des sols destines a l’agriculture: Contamination parasitaire et modelisation en vue de la gestion du risqué sanitaire. Bull Acad Nat Med 181:143–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerken A, Suglo JV, Braun M (2001) Pesticide policy in Ghana. MoFA/PPRSD, ICP Project, Pesticide Policy Project/GTZ. Accra, Ghana

  • Ghana Statistical Services (2002) 2000 population and housing census: Summary report of final results. Ghana Statistical Services, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson PNT (2002) Overview of a recent DFID/NRI/FRI project on street-vended food in Accra. In: SADAOC (2002) Street food in Ghana: Types, environment, patronage, laws and regulations. Proceedings of a roundtable conference on 6-9-01. ISSER, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana, pp 41–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Keraita B, Drechsel P, Huibers F, Raschid-Sally L (2002) Watewater use in informal irrigation in urban and peri-urban areas of Kumasi, Ghana. Urban Agric Mag 8:11–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Mensah E, Amoah P, Drechsel P, Abaidoo RC (2001) Environmental concerns of urban and peri-urban agriculture: Case studies from Accra and Kumasi. In: Drechsel P, Kunze D (eds) Waste composting for urban and peri-urban agriculture: Closing the rural-urban nutrient cycle in sub-Saharan Africa. IWMI, FAO, CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK pp 55–68

  • Ntow WJ (1998) Pesticides misuse at Akumadan to be tackled. NARP-CSIR Newslett 3:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Ntow WJ (2001) Organochlorine pesticides in water, sediment, crops, and human fluids in a farming community in Ghana. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 40: 557–563

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okorley EL, Kwarteng JA (2002) Current status of the use of pesticides in urban and peri-urban vegetable production in the central region of Ghana. Paper presented at a workshop on the Sustainable Food Production Project, Accra, Ghana, January 30, 2002

  • Pesticide Safety Directorate (2005) Excel Spreadsheet of current MRLs. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, London, UK. Available at: http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/uploadedfiles/web-Assets/PSD/MRL-Spreadsheet.xls. Accessed: August 2005

  • Pesticide Action Network and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (1995) Pesticides in tropical agriculture: Hazards and alternatives. In: Schwab, et al. (eds) Pesticide Action Network and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation, 1995. Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim, Germany

  • Schwartzbrod J (1998) Methods of analysis of helminth eggs and cysts in wastewater, sludge, soils and crops. University Henry Poincare, Nancy, France

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuval HI, Fattal B, Yekutiel P (1986) State of the art review: An epidemiological approach to the health effects of wastewater reuse. Water Sci Technol 18:147–162

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sonou M (2001) Periurban irrigated agriculture and health risks in Ghana. Urban Agric Mag 3:33–34

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (1989) Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture. Report World Health Organization of Scientific Group. Technical Report Series No. 778. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

  • World Health Organization (1997) Pesticide residues in food: 1997 evaluations. World Health Organization Expert Group On Pesticide Residues, Geneva, Switzerland, December 6 to 15, 1977

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2000) World development report 2000/2001: Attacking poverty. World Bank, Washington, DC

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by financial support from IDRC’s International Graduate Research Awards in Urban Agriculture (AGROPOLIS) and IWMI. We are also grateful to Osei Tutu of the Biological Science Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Knust, Ghana, for support in data collection.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. West Africa Office, International Water Management Institute, PMB CT 112 Cantonments, Accra, Ghana

    P. Amoah & P. Drechsel

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    R. C. Abaidoo

  3. Water Research Institute, PO Box AH 38, Achimota, Accra, Ghana

    W. J. Ntow

Authors
  1. P. Amoah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. Drechsel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. C. Abaidoo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W. J. Ntow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Amoah.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Amoah, P., Drechsel, P., Abaidoo, R.C. et al. Pesticide and Pathogen Contamination of Vegetables in Ghana’s Urban Markets. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 50, 1–6 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-004-0054-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-004-0054-8

Keywords

  • Endosulfan
  • Chlorpyrifos
  • Pesticide Residue
  • Fecal Coliform
  • Urban Agriculture