Environ Monit Assess (2011) 175:469–474 DOI 10.1007/s10661-010-1544-y Survey of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in commercial pasteurized milk in Iran Sara Bayat · Abbas Esmaili Sari · Nader Bahramifar · Habibollah Younesi · Reza Dahmarde Behrooz Received: 14 November 2009 / Accepted: 26 May 2010 / Published online: 17 June 2010 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract The objective of this study was to inves- tigate the presence of organochlorine pesticides (α-HCH, β -HCH, γ -HCH, HCB, dieldrin, o, p ′ – DDE, p, p ′ –DDE, p, p ′ -DDD, p, p ′ -DDT) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB s ) congeners (28, 52, 101, 138, 153, 180) in pasteurized and sterilized milk containing 1.5%, 2.5%, and 3% fat from Tehran province (Iran). Considering the impor- tance of milk and dairy products for human nu- trition and the toxicity of these compounds, their daily intake (DI) through milk was also deter- mined. The compounds γ -HCH (13.49 ng g −1 fat), S. Bayat (B ) Centre for behavioural and physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia e-mail: sarahbayat@yahoo.com, sbayat@une.edu.au S. Bayat · A. Esmaili Sari · N. Bahramifar · H. Younesi · R. Dahmarde Behrooz Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Imam Reza Street, P.O. Box 46414-356, Noor, Iran A. Esmaili Sari e-mail: esmalili@modares.ac.ir, abbasesmaili@yahoo.com N. Bahramifar e-mail: nbahramifar@yahoo.com H. Younesi e-mail: hunesi@yahoo.com, hunesi@modares.ac.ir β -HCH (11.7 ng g −1 fat), and PCB 180 (7.56 ng g −1 fat) were found at highest concentrations. The DI for all compounds was less than the acceptable daily intake established by FAO/WHO except for PCB s which was more than the minimal risk level. Keywords Organochlorine pesticides · Polychlorinated biphenyls · Pasteurized milk · Daily intake (DI) Abbreviations ADI acceptable daily intake dieldrin 1,2,2,4,10,10 ′ -hexa-chloro-6,7- epoxy-1,4,4 ′ ,5,6,7,8,8′-octahydro- exo 5,8-endo-1,4-dimethano- naphthalene p, p ′ -DDD 1-1,dichloro-2,2-bis ( p-chlorophenyl)ethane o, p’-DDE 1,1-dichloro-2,2,-bis ( p-chlorophenyl)ethylene p, p ′ -DDE 1-1,dichloro-2,2-bis ( p-chlorophenyl)ethylene p, p ′ -DDT p, p ′ -dichloro-1,1-diphenyl-2,2,2- trichloroethane μECD micro-electron capture detector EDI estimated daily intake HCB hexachlorobenzene α-HCH α-hexachlorocyclohexane β -HCH β -hexachlorocyclohexane