Pesticides residues in milks and feedstuff of farm animals drawn from Greece

The objective of this study was to investigate if milk from dairy sheep and goats, fed mainly with supplementary feed during the winter months, was contaminated with pesticides residues. Τwo hundred milk samples from sheep and goats were collected from 10 farms of each animals. The sheep and goats farms were selected from those which represent common conventional production and feeding systems in Greece. Milk and feed samples (alfalfa hay, wheat straw, shrubs, pasture and concentrates) were taken from each farm to analyze for pesticides residues. The results showed that the ∑endosulfan was the main pesticide residue which was detected in all the concentrates samples at a mean concentration of 5.36 mg kg−1, which is much higher from the maximum residue level (MRL). In addition, the ∑endosulfan was also detected in all the alfalfa hay samples but at a mean concentration of 0.10 mg kg−1 which is lower than the MRL. The mean concentrations of endosulfan α and β were 2.82 and 2.39 mg kg−1 in the concentrates samples and 0.08 and 0.02 mg kg−1 respectively in alfalfa hay samples. In the wheat straw, shrubs and pasture samples no pesticides residues were detected. No pesticide residues were also detected in milk samples of sheep and goats. Thus, this milk from the farms sampled presents no human health risks as far as the contaminants analyzed concerned.