DIETARY EXPOSURE TO GLYPHOSATE FROM HONEY IN WA, GHANA

Abstract

Glyphosate is widely used on crop lands by farmers to meet productivity in Wa, Ghana. It is considered a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer therefore raising concerns about its presence in food products. It is applied on farms and has the potential to contaminate with flower nectar of plants foraged by bees to form honey. The study therefore sought to analyze the level of Glyphosate in honey to characterize the health risk associated with the consumption of honey through a dietary exposure analysis. Some physicochemical qualities of honey were also determined. Ten samples of honey were purchased from Wa market for analysis. All laboratory tests were conducted at the Ghana Standards Authority. QuEChERS method for analysis of pesticide residues in low -fat matrix was used in the extraction procedure. Varian CP-3800 Gas Chromatograph with a CombiPAL Autosampler, equipped with pulse flame photometric detector by LC-MS/MS was used. All samples tested have levels below the LOD and LOQ. It is concluded that the honey samples contained Glyphosate at very low levels which may pose threat to human health. For other physicochemical tested, only one sample exceeded the standards set by Codex Alimentarius Commission. Despite the low limits of Glyphosate in the honey, there is still the need for Ghana Standard Authority to prevent potential exposure to it in honey due to the increasing using of agrochemicals by educating honey producers on the need to certify honey before sale, educating the public on the need to purchase certified honey and ensuring that honey is certified before consumption and sale.