Insecticides food contamination

Endosulfan is released to the environment mainly as the result of its use as an insecticide. Significant contamination is limited to areas where endosulfan is manufactured, formulated, applied, or disposed of. The compound partitions to the atmosphere and to soils and sediments. Endosulfan can be transported over long distances in the atmosphere, but the compound is relatively immobile in soils. It is transformed by hydrolysis to the diol and by microorganisms to a number of different metabolites. It is bioconcentrated only to low levels and does not biomagnify in terrestrial or aquatic food chains. 

Chapman RA, Harris CR, Tolman JH, et al. 1993. Further comparison of the persistence in clay loam of single and repeated annual applications of some granular insecticides. J Environ Sci Health Part B Pest Food Contamin Agric 28(2) 151-170. 

Chapman RA, Tolman JH, Cole C. 1994a. The effect of multiple soil applications of disulfoton 011 enhanced microbial degradation in soil and subsequent uptake of insecticidal chemicals by potato plants. J Environ Sci Health Part B Pest Food Contamin Agric 29(3) 485-506. 

Wan Mt, Szeto S, Price P. 1994. Organophosphorus insecticide residues in farm ditches of the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia. J Environ Science and Health Part B, Pesticides Foods Contaminants and Agricultural Waste, 29(5) 917-949. 

The other cost to all of us by removing DDT and similar insecticides is the fact that as a class of compounds, they had low acute toxicity to farmers and applicators using them. The compounds that replaced them, the organophos-phates, did not persist in the environment but did result in many acute deaths, mostly due to occupational scenarios. They are just more toxic on an acute, short-term basis than are many other classes of insecticides. I personally work with these compounds from the perspective of studying dermal exposure and toxicity to the skin. Let me reiterate that at high concentrations, pesticides are potent chemicals. This is especially true if you spill them on your skin However, this is a different issue than eating food contaminated... 

Minute amounts of arsenic are widely distributed in the common foods, in quantities that are more likely to be beneficial than toxic. However, poisoning may result from foods contaminated with excessive amounts of arsenic-containing sprays used as insecticides and weed killers. 

Production, Import/Export, Use, Release, and Disposal. Endosulfan is distributed in the environment as a result of its use as an insecticide (Gregor and Gummer 1989 NRCC 1975 Strachan et al. 1980). Humans may be exposed through the ingestion or use of contaminated food (Gartrell et al. 1986 Podrebarac 1984a) or tobacco products (EPA 1982a), contact with media from contaminated hazardous waste sites (principally soils), or insecticide apphcafion (Oudbier et al. 1974 Wolfe et al. 1972). 

Releases of the compound as an insecticide are typically to the atmosphere and land (WHO 1984). The medium of most importance to human exposure appears to be contaminated foods (Gartrell et al. 1986). 

Bioavailability from Environmental Media. Endosulfan can be absorbed following inhalation of contaminated workplace air and ingestion of insecticide-contaminated food (Ely et al. 1967). Dermal contact with or ingestion of endosulfan that is tightly bound to soil particles is an exposure route of... 

Pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, are widely used in agriculture, and the potential for these residues to accumulate in food has led to concern for human safety. Pesticide residues may enter food animals from environmental sources or from treated or contaminated feeds. Immunoassay development for pesticides has had major impacts for pesticide registrations, analysis of residues in foods, monitoring environmental contamination, determination of occupational exposure, and integration of pest management. 

Akron, Ohio, permits the use of DDT or other efficient and safe insecticide. .. in and around the premises. .. of food-selling establishments and, when used, all food shall be so protected that it will not be contaminated.. .. ... 

Analysis of PDP data from 1994 to 1999 showed that 73% of approximately 27,000 food samples that had no market claim (conventional or organic) showed detectable residues, while 23% of 127 fresh food samples designated as organic had detectable residue levels (Baker et al., 2002). Unavoidable contamination of some of the organic samples was due to the presence of persistent chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides, which had been banned several years earlier, but 13% of the organic samples showed residues of pesticides other than the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides. 

In the past (prior to 1974), exposure of humans to heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide was directly related to the application of heptachlor as an insecticide. However, because of the persistence and bioaccumulation of heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide, exposure of the general population can occur through ingestion of contaminated food (especially cow s or maternal human milk), inhalation of vapors from contaminated soil and water, or direct contact with residual heptachlor from pesticide application. People whose homes have been treated may continue to be exposed to these chemicals in the air over long periods. Occupational exposure can occur in the manufacture of the chemical or from use of heptachlor to control fire ants. The most likely routes of exposure at hazardous waste sites are unknown. Heptachlor has been found infrequently in soil and groundwater at hazardous waste sites. Children who eat contaminated soil or people who obtain tap water from wells located near hazardous waste sites might be exposed to heptachlor. Also, since both compounds can volatilize from soil, people living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to the compounds in the air. 

Endrin 49 persons become ill after eating bakery foods prepared from flour contaminated with the insecticide endrin convulsions resulted in some instances... 

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