Research Publications (Food Safety)

Background

Pesticides are hazardous chemical contaminants for the ecosystem that have been widely used in households and agriculture to eliminate pests for several decades, and have a variety of adverse effects on our health.

Objectives

Gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode is widely used for pesticide residue analysis.

This study aims to provide insights into the current status of pesticide residue contamination in Hainan province and to develop food safety regulations for controlling the excessive use of pesticides on cowpea. First, to assess the dietary exposure risks of pesticide residues in Hainan cowpea, more than 340 pesticides in 80 different fresh cowpea samples were investigated by HPLC-Q-TOF/MS/MS.

A piece of carbonized cotton textile (denim) was prepared and shown to be a viable sorbent for the fabric phase sorptive extraction of pesticide residues from various fruit juices. The presented sorbent was made by heating the acidified cotton textile in a furnace.

In this study, an activated charcoal-infused dental floss-based solid phase extraction procedure using as an efficient and easy–accessible carbon fiber adsorbent followed by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction was introduced for the extraction and preconcentration of some widely used pesticides from fruit juices. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis.

Like many other small crops across the world, Goji berries are sprayed with a variety of unlicensed insecticides in China to protect them from insect pests. If the global pesticide business is unwilling to engage in pesticide registration for minor crops, this incorrect practice presents consumer health and safety concerns relating to pesticide residues.

Toxic pesticide residues in edible vegetables cause major health risks for consumers, hence quantifying them is essential. However, simultaneous and trace level determination of xenobiotic residues of various classes in complex food matrices is still a challenging analytical task.

The excessive and unreasonable use of fungicides can inevitably lead to increased residues in food and ultimately cause harm to human health. To detect the residues of 8 fungicides in agro-products from 2018-2021 in Hebei province China, the method with modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) by Ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed.

In China, the status and risks of pesticide residues in edible mint is essentially unknown. In this study, we evaluated the residual status and associated risks of 208 pesticides in edible mints. Among the 16 pesticide residues detected, there were eight fungicides, six insecticides, and two herbicides, with difenoconazole exhibiting the highest detection rate of 25.55%. A proportion of 53.28% of the mint samples were detected with at least one pesticide residue.

Corn is the second most plentiful cereal grown for human consumption. Corn has several pests and diseases and various kind of pesticides are used for controlling these, and reducing their damage.

The main purpose of this study was to determine pesticide contamination levels in commonly consumed vegetable and fruit samples collected from three different regions of Gujarat state, India.

Metals and pesticides pose risk to human health if accumulated in date fruits eaten for their distinctive sweetness and beneficial minerals. The present study evaluated the concentrations of metals and pesticides in Mazafati date fruit, soil, and irrigation water from three locations of Kerman province in Iran to show potential pollution hazards to consumers of date fruit in Iran.

A total of 57 pesticide residues were analyzed in 155 litchis and 153 longan samples collected from the three main producing provinces of China.

Transfer rate and processing factor (PF) for thirteen most commonly recommended fungicides in grape is assessed during wine making. Validated a rapid and cost effective multi-residue method for thirteen fungicide residues in grapes, pomace and wine. The average recoveries varied 81.52–109.26%. Comparatively higher matrix effect was observed in pomace.

Preparing matrix-matched calibration curves for each matrix type makes multiresidue methods for pesticides determination in foods a labor-intensive endeavor.

The surface and output of organic agriculture is growing steadily in recent years, being generally seen as a healthier, safer and more sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. Comparisons between organic and conventional products are nonetheless scarce in the literature, especially in the case of wine.

Matrix-matching calibration is a method for minimizing or eliminating the matrix effect in pesticide residue analysis. However, when the matrix effect cannot be ignored, a matrix-matching calibration must be established for each single plant, which is time-consuming and laborious.

This research aims to analyze 57 pesticide residues in 35 ready-to-use barberry samples collected from hypermarkets in Iran by Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) approach using acetonitrile for the extraction, and surface adsorbents for clean-up procedure, followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS).

The present study monitored pesticide residues in 2319 samples of fruiting vegetables namely, tomato (416), capsicum (363), brinjal (448), and cucurbits (1,092) grown in the Northern and Western regions of India. The samples were extracted using QuEChERS method and analyzed for the residues of 155 multi–class pesticides by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and/or liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.

In this work, carbonized cellulose nanoparticles have been prepared easily by heating filter paper in a mixture of sulfuric acid and water.

A multi-residue method was developed for 45 pesticides from different groups, encompassing the most widely used pesticides. 30 samples of honey were randomly collected from different regions of Iran and extraction was performed using validated QuEChERS method. Next, pesticide residues were identified and measured using optimized UHPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS analysis.

A solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) coupled high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) strategy was explored for trace concentrations of dicamba, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and picloram residues simultaneous determination from complex matrix of food samples.

Pesticides are contaminants that pose serious risks to human health and the environment worldwide; however, little information is available on the occurrence of pesticide residues in vegetables in either Chile or Mexico. This study evaluated the presence of 22 pesticide residues in vegetables sold at supermarkets and farmers markets in Chile and Mexico and estimated the dietary risk.