ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS OF PESTICIDES USED FOR BERRY AND MELON CROPS IN CONTAMINATION OF GROUND AND SURFACE WATERS

The aim: to assess the health risks of pesticides used for the berry and melon crops in case of the ground and surface waters contamination. Materials and methods: natural hygienic experiments, during which chemical-analytical (high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas-liquid chromatography (GLC), mathematical and statistical methods were used. Results: the research showed that according to the integral groundwater hazard contamination index (IHCI) fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, and pendimethalin are slightly hazardous for humans (class 4); phenhexamide, boscalid, fluxapiroxad, azoxystrobin, spirodiclofen, and abamectin are moderately hazardous (class 3); cyprodinil, difenoconazole, metalaxyl-M, and glyphosate are hazardous (class 2); and within the private farming: penconazole, and abamectin refer to class 3 (moderately hazardous), difenoconazole, azoxystrobin, and metalaxyl-M to class 2 (hazardous). Conclusions: the study revealed acceptable degree of the health risk of pesticides used for berry and melon crops, associated with consumption of contaminated water.