Pesticide residues in milk and cheeses from Greece

Thirty-eight samples of bovine milk and 28 samples of three types of cheese were collected throughout Greece during 1991 and 1992, and analyzed for 13 organochlorine insecticides, three herbicides, and one organophosphorus insecticide residues. Eleven milk samples (28.9% of analyzed samples) contained residues of one or more of the following: lindane, alpha-isomeric hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-BHC), 1,1-bis[p-chlorophenyl]-2,2-dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), and methyl parathion at concentrations below the maximum permitted. Lindane was detected in five samples at concentrations of 0.8 to 7 ng/g of fat of milk, alpha-BHC in two samples at concentrations 16 and 18 ng/g, p,p'-DDE in four samples at concentrations of 14 to 32 ng/g, and methyl parathion in two samples at concentrations 43 and 280 ng/g. Nine cheese samples (32.1%) contained residues of one or more of alpha-BHC, p,p'-DDE, lindane and aldrin-dieldrin. The range of concentrations were 0.8 to 2 ng/g for lindane, 4 to 10 ng/g for alpha-BHC, 20 to 70 ng/g for p,p'-DDE and 0.2 ng/g for aldrin. All mean concentrations found were below the maximum limits permitted by the European Union.