Organochlorine pesticide residues in breast milk from women living in Tripoli, Libya

The presence of organochlorine pesticides in Libyan human milk collected in two major Tripoli maternity hospitals was investigated. The majority of th e samples (76%) were contaminated with one or several of these compounds. T he incidence of contamination varied from 5.4% for lindane to 56% for beta -HCH. The highest mean concentration was found for beta -HCH (240 ng/g fat) and the lowest was that of op'-DDD (75 ng/g fat). The estimated daily inta kes of some pesticides indicate that the detected levels of residues do not constitute any risk to babies' health.