Persistence of pesticide residues

Redondo, M.J., M.J. Ruiz, R. Boluda, and G. Font (1994). Persistence of pesticide residues in orchard soil. Sci. Total Environ., 156 199-205. 

Aust SD. 1992. Persistence of pesticide residues Transport, fate and effects. Utah State University, Chemistry Biochemistry, Logan, UT. 

Szeto SY, Price PM. 1991. Persistence of pesticide residues in mineral and organic soils in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. J Agric Food Chem 39 1679-1684. 

Ruangwises, S., Ruangwises, N., Tabucanon, M.S., 1994. Persistent organochlorine pesticide residues in green mussels (Perna viridis) from the Gulf of Thailand. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 28, 351-355. 

In summary, an endeavor has been made to cover briefly the effect of several pesticides in our total environment, from the food we consume and the soil in which it is grown to the water we drink and fish in and even to the air we breathe. Of course, with a subject as broad as this, only a small fraction of the actual research conducted in this general area could be cited. Obviously, the fate and persistence of pesticides in our total environment are highly complex and worthy of our continued surveillance. However, we should always keep this problem of pesticide contamination of our environment in its proper perspective. Even though trace quantities of pesticide residues are found in our water, fish, milk, etc., and perhaps somewhat higher concentrations are found in some vegetables and fruit we may consume, there is no reason for unwarranted alarm. When pesticides are used properly, the concentration of residues reported are almost always far below levels judged hazardous to health... 

Ebeling, W. (1963). Analysis of the basic processes involved in the deposition, degradation, persistence and effectiveness of pesticides. Residue Rev., 3, 35-163. 

Pesticide residues are the most common agricultural chemicals that contaminate oils and they are almost inevitable. Although edible oils are secondary products derived from the processing of crops, there will be some carryover of pesticide residues into the oil. In 1995, a list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were published (20). They were classified as (1) chlorinated pesticides, such as aldrin and DDT, and other industrial chemicals, such as hexachlorobenzene and... 

Fatoki, O. S. and Awofolu, R. O., Methods for selective determination of persistent organochlorine pesticide residues in water and sediments by capillary GC and electron-capture detection, J. Chromatogr. A, 983, 225-236, 2003. 

The presence of pesticide residues in the human diet is mainly due to their targeted preharvest and postharvest applications. The source of contamination of agricultural crops by some more persistent compounds may be atmospheric transport from distant places. It is necessary to consider the possibility of translocation of residues from soil contaminated in previous growing seasons various agrochemicals may also contain water from rivers and... 

Frank R, Braun HE, Ishida K, et al. 1976. Persistent organic and inorgaiuc pesticide residues in orchard soils and vineyards of Southern Ontario. Can J Soil Sci 56 463-484. 

Oxime carbamates are generally applied either directly to the tilled soil or sprayed on crops. One of the advantages of oxime carbamates is their short persistence on plants. They are readily degraded into their metabolites shortly after application. However, some of these metabolites have insecticidal properties even more potent than those of the parent compound. For example, the oxidative product of aldicarb is aldicarb sulfoxide, which is observed to be 10-20 times more active as a cholinesterase inhibitor than aldicarb. Other oxime carbamates (e.g., methomyl) have degradates which show no insecticidal activity, have low to negligible ecotoxicity and mammalian toxicity relative to the parent, and are normally nondetectable in crops. Therefore, the residue definition may include the parent oxime carbamate (e.g., methomyl) or parent and metabolites (e.g., aldicarb and its sulfoxide and sulfone metabolites). The tolerance or maximum residue limit (MRL) of pesticides on any food commodity is based on the highest residue concentration detected on mature crops at harvest or the LOQ of the method submitted for enforcement purposes if no detectable residues are found. For example, the tolerances of methomyl in US food commodities range from 0.1 to 6 mg kg for food items and up to 40 mg kg for feed items. ... 

---