Pesticides field test

Nigg, H.N., Stamper, J.H., Easter, E.P, and Dejonge, J.O. (1993) Protection afforded greenhouse pesticide applicators by coveralls a field test, Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 25 529-533. 

Oakland, B.G., Dodd, R.B., Schabacker, D.J., and Clegg, L.X. (1992a) Preliminary evaluation of nonwoven chemically treated barrier fabrics for field testing of protective clothing for agricultural workers exposed to pesticides, Bull. Environ. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1968. Field Appraisal of Tests to Control Salt Marsh Mosquito with Dursban Applied as a Larvicide And Adulticide in Florida. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Spec. Rep., Pesticide Field Appraisal Program, Atlanta, Georgia. Mimeo. 25 pp. 

The simplest way to employ these natural insect-killers would be to treat crops directly with infected nematodes, since they can be raised, stored, and spread relatively cheaply. In fact, this idea was first tested in 1932, long before there was any idea how the nematodes destroyed their hosts. The worms showed considerable promise in these early trials, but the project ultimately collapsed with the advent of the Second World War and the subsequent introduction of synthetic pesticides. In more recent field tests, infected worms have scored up to 100 percent pest mortality in a few days. 

Pilot Scale Tests. Three pilot-scale tests were made at USAM6RDL prior to the Ft. Eustis field tests. Measured amounts of the commercial formulations of the pesticides in the synthetic... 

The first field test was successful. Both dimethoate and malathion declined exponentially (Figure 9) and exhibited efficiency factors comparable to the efficiency factors found in the pilot tests. An efficiency factor could be calculated for baygon, but not for diazinon. Some sediment was present into the bottom of the holding tank which could have been slowly releasing baygon and diazinon in the bulk liquid. Nevertheless, after 24 hours of treatment, all pesticides were below the limit of detection. 

Table V. Pesticide Concentration in Ft. Eustis Wastewater as Carbolator Treatment Progressed. Samples Taken Between Pump and In-Line Filter - July 1981 Field Test.

In both of these field tests, the application of thin-layer chromatography was essential for characterizing the pesticides in the water and in monitoring the progress of their removal by the carbon filtration system. 

Figure 10. Pesticide removal curves for the September 1981 carbolator field test ( ).

Very few immunosensors are commercially available. The commercial immunosensors are either the detector or bioanalyzer types. The PZ 106 immunosensor from Universal Sensors Inc. (New Orleans, LA) has been used as a detector to measure antibody-antigen reaction. Ohmicron (Newtown, PA) developed a series of pesticide immuno-bioanalyzers that have been used in field tests. Pharmacia Biosensor USA (Piscataway, NJ) recently introduced BIAcore immunodetection system. A combination of a unique flow injection device and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection technique provides a real time analysis. A carboxylmethyldextran layer added to plasmon generating gold film is a hydrophobic, activatable, and flexible polymer that provides high antibody and low non-specific bindings. System demonstration at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 1994 meeting in Atlanta drew attention of food scientists. It should easily be adapted for food protein characterization. 

Enzyme immunoassay kits are now available for qualitative field testing or for laboratory screening and semiquantitative analysis of pesticides, herbicides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mononuclear and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol, nitroorganics, and many other compounds in aqueous and soil samples. Certain analytes may be quantitatively determined as well, with a degree of accuracy comparable to gas chromatography or high performance liquid chromatography determination. The method is rapid and inexpensive. 

Ahuja, L.R., Q.L. Ma, K.W. Rojas, J.J.T.I. Boesten, and H.J. Farahani (1996). A field test of Root Zone Water Quality Model-Pesticide and bromide behavior. Pestic. Sci., 48 101-108. 

Ballesteros, B., D. Barceld, A. Dankwardt, et al. 2003. Evaluation of a field test kit for triazine herbicides (SensoScreen TR500) as an alarm system of pesticide water samples contamination. Anal. Chim. Acta 475 105-115. 

Brock TCM, Budde BJ. 1994. On the choice of structural parameters and endpoints to indicate responses of freshwater ecosystems to pesticide stress. In Hill IR, Heimbach F, Leeuwangh P, Matthiessen P, editors. Freshwater field tests for hazard assessment of chemicals. Boca Raton (FL) CRC Press, p 19-56. 

Some aspects of the sources, occurrence, and dispersion of airborne pesticide residues (6, 27) and methods for their sampling and analysis (28, 29, 30, 31) have been reviewed elsewhere. In this paper, the focus will be on sampling methodology, experimental design, and some results from recent field tests aimed at determining the entry and proximate fate of airborne residues in relation to specific agricultural treatments. 

Microcosm and mesocosm studies can be directly designed for the purpose of EQS derivation (e.g., the exposure scenario, communities to be monitored, etc.). Guidance for design and conduction of microcosm and mesocosm studies can be found in the references given for pesticide risk assessment, but OECD has recently published a guideline for a lentic field test that is not focused on pesticides alone (OECD 2006b). 

We consider all these field tests still to be preliminary. They will have to be repeated on a larger scale and in different locations and countries before a complete picture can be gained. The work on Spodoptera exigua in Holland was done in collaboration with W.J. Nooijen of the Delft group and C. van der Kraan and S. Voermanof the Institute for Pesticide Research in Wageningen. 

Relying heavily on animal data and considering them the final rather than the first step in developing toxicological information has not encouraged the necessary human studies and field tests. Careful observations of those persons who are exposed to pesticides in their work, for example, have not been incorporated into a system for careful transition of the chemical from the laboratory into general use. 

Many of the formulations for plant protection are designed to help the active substance to penetrate the cuticle of plant leaves or insects. It is therefore not surprising that these formulations sometimes enhance the skin absorption in humans. To account for this in Europe, EC Directive 91/414 for pesticides requires testing of both the active substance and the formulated product (EEC, 1991). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requires that the vehicle system duplicates that used in the field (USEPA, 1998). Since many pesticides are... 

Kula, H. (1992) Measuring effects of pesticides on earthworms in the field test design and sampling methods. In Ecotoxicology of Earthworms, Greig-Smith, P.W., Becker, H., Edwards, PJ. and Heimbach, F. (eds), pp. 90-99. Intercept Ltd, Andover, Hants. 

There has been some debate as to whether the concept of the Principal Investigator is really necessary or even desirable in areas of safety testing outside of the area of field testing of pesticides. While for such field studies... 

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