The most important factors influencing the human development and health condition are nutrition habits. The quality of food including first of all health safety as well as usable attributes of products often decides about the consumer choice. Safe food should be characterized by both, adequate nutritive value and the tolerably low content of substances which presence could be a risk and threat for health, e.g. pesticide residues. The aim of the study was to estimate long-term and short-term intake of pesticide residues in Polish fruit and vegetables in 2006. The estimation of dietary exposure was based on pesticide residue data from official control of domestic crops carried out by Institute of Plant Protection and on British food consumption data.The estimated dietary intake has shown the chronic dietary exposure of consumers to the pesticide residues in 2006 in Polish crops was relatively low. For fourteen pesticide residues found in apples the long-term intake did not exceed for adult 1.4% and for toddlers 7.6% of the ADI calculated for each compound and respectively 5.1% and 28.3% of the ADI for all compounds total. For eleven residues found in black currants the data were respectively for adult 1.1% and for toddlers 3.3% of the ADI calculated for each compound and 3.3% and 10.3% of the ADI for all compounds total. The long-term exposure values for other 29 commodities were much lower than those for black currant. An acute dietary exposure was estimated for residues of endosulfan in black currants, fenhexamid in raspberries and captan in sour cherries. An acute dietary exposure did not exceed 18.9% for adults and for toddlers 43.2% of the ARfD. The results show that Polish fruit and vegetables are safe in long- as well as in short-term nutrition.
Fruit and vegetables constitute an essential part of human diet and that is why they should be “safe”.
Chemical contaminants of plant origin in food, including the pesticide residues, are defined as critical differentiators of quality and food safety. Pesticide residues are found in fruits, vegetables, cereals and herbs chemically
protected at low concentrations, but they are one of the elements that affect the quality of healthcare.
The aim of this study was to assess the pesticide residues in apples from the north-eastern Poland (Lubelskie,
Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie provinces) and get an answer whether any contamination in fruit from the
region is similar to that in other countries and whether it can lead to exposure of consumer’s health. Also assessed compliance of used pesticides with applicable law and found residues were compared with the Maximum
Residue Levels (MRLs). The study showed that 59% of the samples of apples from the north-eastern Poland
contain pesticide residues below the MRL, and 7% above the limits. The estimated dietary intake has shown
the chronic dietary exposure of the most vulnerable groups - children and adults to the pesticide residues in
Polish apples was relatively low and does not constitute a health risk to. The results show that apples from
north-eastern Poland are safe.
Applying pesticides to crops is one of the causes of water pollution by surface runoff, and chlorpyrifos, trifluralin and chlorothalonil are used respectively as insecticide, herbicide and fungicide for crop plants widely. To explore effects of three pesticides on aquatic organisms, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities were determined after 24 h and 48 h exposure of D. magna with ages of 6–24 h to several low concentrations of chlorpyrifos (0.36, 0.72, 1.43, 2.86, 5.72 μg∙L−1), trifluralin (0.17, 0.33, 0.66, 1.33, 2.65 mg∙L−1) and chlorothalonil (0.09, 0.18, 0.36, 0.72, 1.43 mg∙L−1) respectively. Main reproductive parameters including first pregnancy time, first brood time, the number of first brood and total fecundity after 21 d exposures at the same concentrations of pesticides as described above were also measured. The results showed that the activities of GST increased in lower concentrations and decreased in higher concentrations after 24 h exposure to three pesticides, respectively. The activities of SOD showed the same changes after 48 h exposure. With the time prolonged, the activities of GST decreased while the activities of SOD increased. After 21 d exposure, the first pregnancy time and first brood time were delayed, while the number of the first brood and total fecundity per female decreased with increasing concentrations. These results corroborated that GST activity was more sensitive to those pesticides than SOD activity, and there was a significant relationship between total fecundity and pesticides-dose(r>0.94, n=6), GST activity after 48 h exposure and total fecundity after 21 d exposure (r>0.92, n=6).
The pesticide persistence, in particular in soils, often significantly exceeding the declarations of their manufacturers is surprising. There are many publications devoted to the explanation of this phenomenon in the field literature, but the diverse research methodologies used may lead to the ambiguous conclusions. On the basis of the collected literature, the attempt was made to systematize the available information on the interactions of commonly used groups of pesticides with individual soil components. The complex mechanisms of interactions between pesticides and soil based on van der Waals forces, ionic and covalent bonding, ligand exchange and charge transfer complexes formation were demonstrated. It was also proved that the nature of interactions is strictly dependent on the structure of the pesticide molecule. The conclusion of the review may contribute to the choice of plant protection products that, in addition to their effectiveness, are as little ballast for the environment as possible.
The aim of this study was to monitor pesticide residues in the blood of agricultural workers (farmers, pesticide dealers, and spraying workers) living in the Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Residue analysis revealed that 48, 76, and 84% of the farmers, pesticide dealers, and spraying workers had pesticide residues in their bloods, respectively. Eleven compounds were detected in the blood of examined individuals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, most of these pesticides (nine pesticides) were in moderately hazardous compounds. Carbofuran, a highlyhazardous compound was the most toxic. The compound with the lowest toxicity was hexytiazox, which is unlikely to pose an acute hazard in normal use. Chlorpyrifos was found in the blood of 38.3% of the study subjects, followed by acetamiprid (11.7%) and profenofos (10.7%), while fenvalerate was the lowest occurring compound (1.3%). Of the collected samples 41.3% was free of pesticide residues, while 58.7% of the samples was contaminated. Furthermore, the amounts of all detected pesticides were below the no observable adverse effect levels (NOAEL). Also, 38.7% of the samples had only one pesticide, while 8% of them contained residues of two pesticides, and 5.3% contained more than two compounds. The worker’s age did not affect the accumulations of pesticide residues in their bodies. However, there was a strong correlation between pesticide residues accumulation and an individual’s exposure time. Therefore, from these results it can be seen that encouraging greater awareness among pesticide users of the need to improve safe usage and handling of pesticides by education, advice, and warning them of the risks involved in the misuse of these poisonous materials is highly recommended.
The study was conducted at the University of Nebraska Pesticide Application and Technology Laboratory in North Platte, Nebraska in July 2015. Two application volume rates (100 and 200 l · ha−1) and three nozzle types (XR, AIXR, TTI) were selected at two flow rates (0.8 and 1.6 l · min−1) and at a single application speed of 7.7 km · h−1. Each collector type [Mylar washed (MW), Mylar image analysis (MIA), water-sensitive paper (WSP), and Kromekote (KK)] was arranged in a randomized complete block design. Each nozzle treatment was replicated twice, providing six cards of each collector type for each nozzle treatment. A water + 0.4% v/v Rhodamine WT spray solution was applied, given the fluorescent and visible qualities of Rhodamine, which allows it to be applied over all the collector types. MW had the highest coverage at 18.3% across nozzle type, followed by WSP at 18%, KK at 12% and lastly by MIA at 4%. MW resulted in a 58% increase in coverage, WSP in a 56% increase, and KK only an increase of 39% when the volume rate was doubled from 100 l · ha−1 to 200 l · ha−1 across nozzle type. MW coverage was similar to KK for half of the nozzles (XR 11002, XR 11004, AIXR 11002). Droplet number density fixed effects were all significant for nozzle type and collector type (p < 0.001) as was the interaction of nozzle type and collector type (p < 0.001). Results from this study suggest a strong correlation to data produced with WSP and MW collectors, as there was full agreement between both types except for the TTI 11004. Using both collector types in the same study would allow for a visual understanding of the distribution of the spray, while also giving an idea of the concentration of that distribution.