Pesticide residues in soil, water and crops resulting from cash crop cultivation in Benin and Burkina Faso

Y. Bonzi Coulibaly1, H. Tapsoba1, C. Stechert2, M. Kolb2, M. Bahadir2

1Laboratoire

de Chimie Organique: Structure & Ractivit , Universit de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; bonziy@univ-ouaga.bf of Ecological Chemistry and Waste Analysis, Technische Universitaet Braunschweig, Germany

2Institute

Motivation
For cash crop cultivation, especially in cotton cultures in Benin and Burkina Faso imported insecticides are used, that are mostly toxic. For example, the organo-chlorinated endosulfan banned in many countries is still in use in both Western African countries. One consequence of pesticide application is the formation of residues in soil, water, and crops. These two countries have important natural reserves in proximity to cotton farms as Pama Reserve Parc in the East of Burkina Faso and Parc National de la Pendjari in the North of Benin. Thus, contamination of soils and water especially in those areas is important for their key function as habitat media for a great number of non-target organisms (e.g. arthropods, amphibians and bats) that fullfill important ecosystem functions (Fig. 1). Pesticide residues in soil and water at BIOTA biodiversity observatories of these areas and at vicinal agricultural areas are monitored in order to evaluate the pollution levels.

First results of pesticide analyses

1800 1600 -endosulfan -endosulfan endosulfan sulfate

conc. in g/kg soil dm

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

S KO CB S C BM KO

Biocotton BF Sesam BF Conventional Cotton BF / Benin

Fig. 2: Endosulfan residues in agricultural soils from sampling sites in Benin (cotton field in Materi near Pendjari Park in October 2007) and Burkina Faso (BF) in November 2007

soil water

insects

crops

Fig. 1: Interaction of non-target organisms with environmental compartments

Sampling sites
The sampling sites are selected on cash crop farmland of Burkina Faso and Benin (disturbed areas) and in the undisturbed area of the Pendjari National Park in Benin in cooperation with zoologists that sample the nontarget organisms at the same sites in Benin. Sampling strategy is matching the climatic conditions by considering the two seasons: dry (November to April) and wet (May to October) and the crop growing season, especially of cotton.

Residue analyses of soil and water samples were performed for typically applied insecticides in cotton like organochlorines, organophosphates and pyrethroides. Residues of endosulfan isomers and their main metabolite endosulfan sulfate were detected (Fig. 2 and Tab. 1). Endosulfan is a non systemic organochlorine insecticide with a DT50 value of about 50 days (time for the disappearance of 50 % of the applied insecticide). It is known to be carcinogenic, teratogenic, and neurotoxic as well as toxic to aquatic organisms. In soil samples from the beginning of the dry season (end of October / November) the applied insecticide mixture of endosulfan (- and -isomer in ratios of 2:1 or 7:3) was degraded for a major part (50 to 80 %) to the metabolite endosulfan sulfate that is more persistent and similar toxic than its parent compounds. The residues levels in soil of conventional cotton growing were relatively high in a range of 160 g/kg to 2300 g/kg (sum of all three substances). Even in soil from a bio-cotton field low concentrations of endosulfan were found but with an untypical domination of the -isomer. This might be due to a contamination with the volatile isomer -endosulfan via evapotranspiration and atmospheric transport from treated fields in the neighborhood.
Tab. 1: Endosulfan residues in pond water from sampling sites in Benin and Burkina Faso
Sampling location Benin Pendjari Park Bali Bali I II Burkina Faso Hunting Cotton area Cotton area zone Batia Batia Taya- Taya- Materi KikiNatiaI II cou cou I deni bouani I II

Pama reserve parc Parc National de la Pendjari

Conc. of -, - endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate in g/L n.d. n.d. 0.02

0.02

n.d.

SC KS C N SC C M at er i

BS S O SS

C BS

VS

<0.02 0.03

< 0.02 0.05

n.d.: not detected

Outlook
Sampling sites in the vicinity of Biodiversity Observatories (NSCC, KOSCB, KOSCBM Kikideni, Natiabouani in Burkina Faso; Tayacou, Materi, Batia, Bali in Benin) Additional cotton sites of conventional cotton in Burkina Faso (BSC, VSC, OSC, KSC)

Information on pesticide products and their application pattern used in cash crop cultivation in the two countries will be supplemented. Sampling of soil, water and crops will be continued in 2008 and 2009. Analytical data will provide an overview of the environmental contamination state due to cotton cultivation and thus complete the data of pesticide residues in nontarget organisms to evaluate possible influences of pesticides on biodiversity.