Guan et al., 2021
Guan, J., Yang, J., Zhang, Y., Zhang, X., Deng, H., Xu, J., Wang, J., & Yuan, M. S.; “Employing a fluorescent and colorimetric picolyl-functionalized rhodamine for the detection of glyphosate pesticide;” Talanta, 2021, 224, 121834; DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121834.
ABSTRACT:
The ongoing poisoning of agricultural products has pushed the security problem to become an important issue. Among them, exceeding the standard rate of pesticide residues is the main factor influencing the quality and security of agricultural products. Monitoring pesticide residues and developing simple, yet ultrasensitive detection systems for pesticide residues are urgently needed. In this study, we successfully developed a novel rhodamine derivative as fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensor R-G for the rapid, selective and ultrasensitive detection of glyphosate pesticide residue in aqueous solution. Through a Cu(2+)-indicator displacement strategy, glyphosate can displace an indicator (R-G) from a Cu(2+)-indicator complex due to its strong affinity to bind with Cu(2+) to give a turn-on fluorescence and distinct color change. Moreover, a test strip was also fabricated to achieve a facile detection of glyphosate pesticide. To demonstrate the possibility of practical applications, glyphosate was detected on the surface of cabbage and in a spiked soil sample. The detection limit of 4.1 nM and the response time of 2 min indicate that the method is enough sensitive and rapid to detect the glyphosate residue at or below levels that pose a health risk. FULL TEXT
Abdel-Halim and Osman, 2020
Abdel-Halim, K. Y., & Osman, S. R.; “Cytotoxicity and Oxidative Stress Responses of Imidacloprid and Glyphosate in Human Prostate Epithelial WPM-Y.1 Cell Line;” Journal of Toxicology, 2020, 2020, 4364650; DOI: 10.1155/2020/4364650.
ABSTRACT:
Insecticide imidacloprid and herbicide glyphosate have a broad spectrum of applicable use in the agricultural sector of Egypt. Their ability to induce in vitro cytotoxic and oxidative stress on normal human cells (prostate epithelial WPM-Y.1 cell line) was evaluated with the methyl tetrazolium test (MTT) and histopathological investigation. Cell viability was evaluated with an MTT test for 24 h. The median inhibition concentration (IC50) values were 0.023 and 0.025 mM for imidacloprid and glyphosate, respectively. Sublethal concentrations: 1/10 and 1/50 of IC50 and IC50 levels significantly induced an increase in the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level compared with the untreated cells. Rapid decrease in the glutathione (GSH) content and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity was induced. Significant increases were recorded in activities of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GR), respectively, compared with the control group. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) investigation showed significant defects in the cells following pesticide treatments for 24 h. Therefore, it is concluded that imidacloprid and glyphosate are very toxic in vitro assays and able to induce apoptotic effects as well as oxidative stress. So, these findings provide a scenario of multibiomarkers to achieve the imposed risks of pesticides at low doses. FULL TEXT
Benbrook and Davis, 2020
Benbrook, Charles M., & Davis, Donald R.; “The dietary risk index system: a tool to track pesticide dietary risks;” Environmental Health, 2020, 19(1); DOI: 10.1186/s12940-020-00657-z.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: For years the United States Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program and the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency have published annual or quarterly data on pesticide residues in foods. Both programs report residues in conventionally grown, organic, and imported foods. The US program has tested about 288,000 food samples since 1992, primarily fruits and vegetables consumed by children. Since 1999 the UK has tested about 72,000 samples of a wider range of foods. These data are vital inputs in tracking trends in pesticide dietary risks.
METHODS: The Dietary Risk Index (DRI) system facilitates detailed analyses of US and UK pesticide residue data, trends, and chronic risk distributions. The DRI value for a pesticide is the dietary intake of that pesticide from a single serving of food divided by the pesticide’s acceptable daily intake as set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It can be calculated based on average annual residue concentrations, and on residue levels in individual samples of food. DRI values can be aggregated over multiple pesticides in single foods, and over individual pesticides in multiple foods.
RESULTS: The DRI system provides insights into the levels, trends, and distribution of pesticide dietary risk across most widely consumed foods. By drawing on both US Pesticide Data Program and UK-Food Standards Agency residue data, the DRI is capable of assessing pesticide risks in a significant portion of the global food supply. Substantial reductions in pesticide dietary risks occurred in the early 2000s, primarily from replacement of organophosphate insecticides with seemingly lower-risk neonicotinoids. However, there remain several areas of concern and opportunities to reduce risks. Both herbicide and fungicide dietary risks are rising. Organically grown produce poses risks far lower than corresponding, conventionally grown produce. Risk differences are inconsistent between domestic and imported foods.
CONCLUSTIONS: The surest ways to markedly reduce pesticide dietary risks are to shift relatively high-risk fruits and vegetables to organic production. For other foods, reducing reliance on pesticides overall, and especially high-risk pesticides, will incrementally lower risks. The DRI system can help focus such efforts and track progress in reducing pesticide dietary risk. FULL TEXT
Soltani et al., 2020
Soltani, Nader, Oliveira, Maxwel C., Alves, Guilherme S., Werle, Rodrigo, Norsworthy, Jason K., Sprague, Christy L., Young, Bryan G., Reynolds, Daniel B., Brown, Ashli, & Sikkema, Peter H.; “Off-target movement assessment of dicamba in North America;” Weed Technology, 2020, 34(3), 318-330; DOI: 10.1017/wet.2020.17.
ABSTRACT:
Six experiments were conducted in 2018 on field sites located in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ontario, and Wisconsin to evaluate the off-target movement (OTM) of dicamba under field-scale conditions. The highest estimated dicamba injury in non-dicamba-resistant (DR) soybean was 50, 44, 39, 67, 15, and 44% injury for non-covered areas and 59, 5, 13, 42, 0, and 41% injury for covered areas during dicamba application in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ontario, and Wisconsin, respectively. The level of injury generally decreased exponentially as the downwind distance increased under covered and non-covered areas at all sites. There was an estimated 10% injury in non-DR soybean at 113, 8, 11, 8, and 8 m; and estimated 1% injury at 293, 28, 71, 15, and 19 m from the edge of treated field downwind when plants were not covered during dicamba application in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario and Wisconsin, respectively. Filter paper collectors placed from 4 up to 137 m downwind from the edge of the sprayed area suggested that the dicamba deposition reduced exponentially with distance. The greatest injury to non-DR soybean from dicamba OTM occurred at Nebraska and Arkansas (as far as 250 m). Non-DR soybean injury was greatest adjacent to the dicamba sprayed area but, injury decreased with no injury beyond 20 m downwind or any other direction from the dicamba sprayed area in Indiana, Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin. The presence of soybean injury under covered and non-covered areas during the spray period for primary drift suggests that secondary movement of dicamba was evident at five sites. Further research is needed to determine the exact forms of secondary movement of dicamba under different environmental conditions. FULL TEXT
Berens et al., 2020
Berens, Matthew B., Capel, Paul D., & Arnold, William A.; “Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Surface Water, Groundwater, and Wastewater across Land Use Gradients and Potential Effects;” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2020, In Press; DOI: 10.1002/etc.4959.
ABSTRACT:
Neonicotinoid insecticides cause adverse effects on non-target organisms, but more information about their occurrence in surface and groundwater is needed across a range of land use. Sixty-five sites in Minnesota U.S., representing rivers, streams, lakes, groundwater, and treated wastewater, were monitored via collection of 157 water samples to determine variability in spatiotemporal neonicotinoid concentrations. The data were used to assess relations to land use, hydrogeologic condition, and potential effects on aquatic life. Results showed total neonicotinoid concentrations were highest in agricultural watersheds (median=12 ng/L) followed by urban (2.9 ng/L) and undeveloped watersheds (1.9 ng/L). Clothianidin was most frequently detected in agricultural areas (detection frequency = 100%) and imidacloprid most often in urban waters (detection frequency = 97%). The seasonal trend of neonicotinoid concentrations in rivers, streams, and lakes showed that their highest concentrations coincided with spring planting and elevated streamflow. Consistently low neonicotinoid concentrations were found in shallow groundwater in agricultural regions (<1.2-16 ng/L, median = 1.4 ng/L). Treated municipal wastewater had the highest concentrations across all hydrologic compartments (12-48 ng/L, median = 19 ng/L), but neonicotinoid loads from rivers and streams (median = 4100 mg/d) were greater than in treated wastewater (700 mg/d). No samples exceeded acute aquatic-life benchmarks for individual neonicotinoids, whereas 10% of samples exceeded a chronic benchmark for neonicotinoid mixtures. Although 62% of samples contained two or more neonicotinoids, the observed concentrations suggest there were low acute and potential chronic risks to aquatic life. This the first study of its size in Minnesota and is critical to better understanding the drivers of widescale environmental contamination by neonicotinoids where urban, agricultural, and undeveloped lands are present. FULL TEXT
Kokroko et al., 2020
Kokroko, J., Kogut, K., Harley, K., & Eskenazi, B.; “Prenatal beta-Hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) Exposure and 7-Year Child IQ in the CHAMACOS Birth Cohort;” Neurotoxicity Research, 2020, 37(3), 553-563; DOI: 10.1007/s12640-020-00160-w.
ABSTRACT:
Fetal and infant exposures to beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH) occur through placental and breastmilk transfers. No studies have examined the relationship between beta-HCH and child intelligence quotient (IQ). This study examined associations between in utero beta-HCH exposure and cognitive development in 7-year-old children. Data from women and children (n = 256) participating in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) birth cohort study were evaluated. We assessed exposure to beta-HCH by measuring maternal serum concentration during pregnancy. We administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), Fourth Edition, to children at age 7. Analyses were adjusted for maternal age, country of birth, work status, parity, and other pesticide exposures, language used for child cognitive assessment, and duration of breastfeeding. Higher serum beta-HCH concentrations were associated with higher cognitive scores across all unadjusted models for the full-scale and sub-scale cognitive tests. In the adjusted models, a 10-fold increase in serum beta-HCH concentration was associated with a 4.5-point increase in Working Memory IQ score (95% CI, 0.6 to 8.3; p = 0.02). We observed no significant interaction by length of breastfeeding or sex on associations. Our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to beta-HCH is not adversely related to IQ at age 7 in a cohort of Mexican American children with fairly high exposure in utero as measured by maternal serum levels. Future research must replicate these findings in other study cohorts of women and children.
Szekacs et al., 2018
Székács, András, Wilkinson, Martin G., Mader, Anneluise, & Appel, Bernd; “Environmental and food safety of spices and herbs along global food chains;” Food Control, 2018, 83, 1-6; DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2017.06.033.
ABSTRACT:
Spices and herbs, which are consumed in small quantities, but used in a wide range of foods and food products, represent a unique segment within the food sector. Moreover, being distributed as mostly in their dried, low water activity formats and associated with very complex distribution product chains, specific concerns as regards food safety apply to these particular commodities. To promote the capability of the food sector and the society to detect, respond to and prevent bio-threats, data generated from the EU FP7 project “Securing the spices and herbs commodity chains in Europe against deliberate, accidental or natural biological and chemical contamination” (SPICED) are presented thematically including: general considerations, issues of sampling, chemical and microbial contamination, and food chain and societal aspects. FULL TEXT
Bakian and VanDerslice, 2019
Bakian, Amanda V., & VanDerslice, James A.; “Pesticides and autism;” BMJ, 2019, 364, l1149; DOI: 10.1136/bmj.l1149.
ABSTRACT:
Not Available
Attina et al., 2016
Attina, T. M., Hauser, R., Sathyanarayana, S., Hunt, P. A., Bourguignon, J. P., Myers, J. P., DiGangi, J., Zoeller, R. T., & Trasande, L.; “Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the USA: a population-based disease burden and cost analysis;” Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 2016, 4(12), 996-1003; DOI: 10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30275-3.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) contribute to disease and dysfunction and incur high associated costs (>1% of the gross domestic product [GDP] in the European Union). Exposure to EDCs varies widely between the USA and Europe because of differences in regulations and, therefore, we aimed to quantify disease burdens and related economic costs to allow comparison.
METHODS: We used existing models for assessing epidemiological and toxicological studies to reach consensus on probabilities of causation for 15 exposure-response relations between substances and disorders. We used Monte Carlo methods to produce realistic probability ranges for costs across the exposure-response relation, taking into account uncertainties. Estimates were made based on population and costs in the USA in 2010. Costs for the European Union were converted to US$ (€1=$1·33).
FINDINGS: The disease costs of EDCs were much higher in the USA than in Europe ($340 billion [2·33% of GDP] vs $217 billion [1·28%]). The difference was driven mainly by intelligence quotient (IQ) points loss and intellectual disability due to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (11 million IQ points lost and 43 000 cases costing $266 billion in the USA vs 873 000 IQ points lost and 3290 cases costing $12·6 billion in the European Union). Accounting for probability of causation, in the European Union, organophosphate pesticides were the largest contributor to costs associated with EDC exposure ($121 billion), whereas in the USA costs due to pesticides were much lower ($42 billion).
INTERPRETATION: EDC exposure in the USA contributes to disease and dysfunction, with annual costs taking up more than 2% of the GDP. Differences from the European Union suggest the need for improved screening for chemical disruption to endocrine systems and proactive prevention.
Astiz et al., 2011
Astiz, M., Arnal, N., de Alaniz, M. J., & Marra, C. A.; “Occupational exposure characterization in professional sprayers: clinical utility of oxidative stress biomarkers;” Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2011, 32(2), 249-258; DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2011.05.010.
ABSTRACT:
The impact of involuntary exposure to pesticides was studied in a group of professional sprayers (S) (25+/-5 years old) exposed to various agrochemicals for about 10 years. The results were compared with a group of non exposed people (C). S group showed hematological, renal, pancreatic and hepatic biomarkers within the reference values established for the general population, including cholinesterase activity. In spite of that, all the biochemical tests were statistically different compared to C. On the other hand, oxidative stress biomarkers (OSB) such as plasma tocopherol and the total reducing ability of plasma were significantly decreased, while protein carbonyls, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, total glutathione and the sum of nitrites and nitrates were increased in the exposed group. Results demonstrated that screening laboratory tests could not be fully sensitive in detecting sub-clinical exposure to pesticides, and also suggest that OSB could be validated and included in health surveillance protocols. FULL TEXT