Research Publications (Food Safety)

Honey is consumed worldwide because of its nutritional, therapeutic and medicinal properties. Generally, honey should reach the consumer in a pure form, but it is often contaminated in various ways. Thus, this study was designed to check for the presence of pesticide residues, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels, and the content of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in selected European honeys (26 samples) obtained from shops.

The fungicide fludioxonil, given its physicochemical properties, potentially accumulates and persists in sediments. Fludioxonil has a widespread agricultural use to control various fungal diseases. Its residues may cause toxic effects to benthic aquatic fauna, thereby impacting ecosystem service functions of aquatic ecosystems.

Seventeen organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and seven indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) residues in 80 sediment samples from four cage aquaculture farms on the Volta Basin were determined to find out the extent of their contamination as well as their risk to biota in the aquatic ecosystem. The extracted residues of the OCPs and PCBs were analysed on a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector and mass spectrometer, respectively.

Pesticides can cause harmful effects to aquatic communities, even at concentrations below the threshold limit established as guidelines for the water bodies by environmental agencies. In this research, an input of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (i.e., 2,4-D) was simulated under controlled conditions in a 500-m-long reach of a first-order tropical stream in Southeastern Brazil. Two water samplings at eight stations investigated the stream longitudinal contamination profile.

The Salinas Valley in Monterey County, California, USA, is a highly productive agricultural region. Irrigation runoff containing pesticides at concentrations toxic to aquatic organisms poses a threat to aquatic ecosystems within local watersheds.

The Salinas Valley in Monterey County, California, USA, is a highly productive agricultural region. Irrigation runoff containing pesticides at concentrations toxic to aquatic organisms poses a threat to aquatic ecosystems within local watersheds.

Seventeen organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and seven indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) residues in 80 sediment samples from four cage aquaculture farms on the Volta Basin were determined to find out the extent of their contamination as well as their risk to biota in the aquatic ecosystem. The extracted residues of the OCPs and PCBs were analysed on a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector and mass spectrometer, respectively.

In Northern Benin, insecticides are used for cotton production. These insecticides can be easily transferred to water ponds close to cotton fields. To monitor insecticides levels in water, sediments and fish samples from water ponds, a GC–MS analytical method was developed to detect residues of endosulfan, DDT and its parent compounds, isomers of HCH, pyrethroids and chlorpyrifos.

Stormwater runoff samples were collected from five different land use sites (gas station, city road, campus, park, and residential) in a precipitation event on May 22nd, 2017, from a small suburban area (5 km × 2 km) of the city of Beijing, China.

There is little information on how POPs in eggs of different terrestrial, wetland, and aquatic birds share a large urban and rural landscape relate. We collected and analysed 64 eggs belonging to ten species of six feeding guilds, and compared organic chlorinated pesticide (OCP), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and brominated flame retardants (BFR) residue concentrations and compositions.

The aquifer flowing beneath the Yucatan Peninsula, México, is one of the largest in the world and is in direct contact with the surface through “cenotes” (sinkholes) that have been documented to be contaminated with various classes of pollutants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental status of the Great Mayan Aquifer through a review of data published on pollution of the cenotes.

Agricultural drainage ditches help remove excess water from fields and provide habitat for wildlife. Drainage ditch management, which includes various forms of vegetation clearing and sediment dredging, can variably affect the ecological function of these systems.

Anthropogenic interference the ecosystem unavoidably changes the physical and biological environment. The biodiversity of the Amazon region has been threatened by increased agricultural production and pesticide use. Considering that monitoring pesticides in environments close to their application is one of the ways to preserve the ecosystem, this study investigated the levels of pesticide residues in different environmental compartments (soil, sediment, and water samples).

Aquatic environments are constantly exposed to a cocktail of contaminants mainly due to human activities. As polluted ecosystems may simultaneously present other multiple natural stressors, the objective of the present study was to evaluate joint effect of stressors (natural and anthropogenic) on life history traits of the Neotropical cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia silvestrii.

This study measured both nutrient and pesticide concentrations at up to 13 different freshwater stream sites in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island between 2013 and 2018. Up to 62 different pesticides were analysed in 248 discreet samples. A large majority of pesticides were below the detection limit of the laboratory while seven pesticides had at least 20% or more detections throughout the years of this study.

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) through food, water, and air occurred during the life, which may change telomere length (TL) in peripheral blood leukocytes. The present study was designed to investigate the association between TL and serum levels of PCBs and OCPs in Tehran male’s population. Whole blood samples were randomly taken from 300 adult males, aged between 25 and 40 years.

Wetlands and their biodiversity are constantly threatened by contaminant pollution from urbanisation. Despite evidence suggesting that snakes are good bioindicators of environmental health, the bioaccumulation of contaminants in reptiles is poorly researched in Australia.

Use of pesticides continues to be indiscriminate, and birds are one of the worst affected non-targeted organisms. Information on the ill effects of pesticides on birds far from desired in India. Despite the presence of a wide variety and number of birds, there is exceedingly little data on organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in colonial nesting birds in sanctuaries of India.

Increasing levels of pollution in Galveston Bay, TX, are of significant concern for populations that directly depend on fishing activities. Efforts to evaluate contaminant levels in commercial fish have been largely limited to the quantification of chemical mixtures in fish tissue, but little information exists about the toxicological potential of these chemicals on consumption of contaminated seafood.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been used for many decades, both for the control of pests in agriculture and for the control of vectors of human and animal diseases. Several recent studies have reported significant concentrations of these compounds in multiple environmental substrates due to their persistence, as well as the effect they have on ecosystem health, human health, and wildlife populations.

The occurrence and distribution of 11 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their degradation products as well as of 17 polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCBs) were investigated for the first time in sediments of three (Lake Prošće, Lake Kozjak, Lake Kaluđerovac) out of 16 cascading karst lakes within the protected area of the Plitvice Lakes National Park in central Croatia. The 15-cm-long sediment cores were divided for analysis into three 5-cm-long segments.