Comparative Analysis of Some Brands of Pesticides Utilized in Eastern Nigerian Environment

Abstract

Some pesticide products sold and utilized in eastern Nigeria was investigated for the actual chemical composition aimed at specifying the number of chemical constituents and the actual active ingredient(s) present in the pesticide products. Four pesticide products were bought from Eke Awka Market in Anambra State. Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technique was used for the analysis of the products. Results indicates that the sample A contains eight (8) chemical constituents with percentage compositions as follows: Toluene (19.00%), Cumene (6.53%), indane (21.65%), 1-chloro-Indane (8.05%), Endo-8,9-dihydrodicyclopentadiene (16.65%), 9,10-Dimethylene tricycle[4.2.1.1(2,5)]decane (3.41%), 2,3-Anhydro-d-mannosan (3.42%) and 1,14-Tetradecanediol (11.27%) while sample B (100%), C (95.96%) and D (84.90%) contain Dichlorvos as their active ingredient which is in line with the labeled content even though there are other compounds present. Results equally pointed out that none of the identified components in sample A is a pesticide active ingredient. Therefore, it is a matter of public health significance and environmental sustainability to frequently monitor labeled and unlabeled pesticide products sold and utilized in Nigeria in order to ascertain their true chemical composition so as to check the illegal formulation of these pesticides in this region by traders with little knowledge of public health policies.