A rapid, high-throughput method employing ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed and optimized for simultaneous quantification and confirmation of 64 pesticide residues and their toxic metabolites in fruit extracts prepared by a buffered QuEChERS procedure. The total time required for UPLC-MS/MS analysis was 8 min plus 2 min f...

Antibiotic residues that may be present in carcasses of medicated livestock could pass to and greatly reduce scavenger wildlife populations. We surveyed residues of the quinolones enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics (amoxicillin and oxytetracycline) in nestling griffon Gyps fulvus, cinereous Aegypius monachus and Egyptian Neophron percnopterus vultures in central...

Nowadays, owing to the increasing population and the attempts to satisfy its needs, pesticides are widely applied to control the quantity and quality of agricultural products. However, the presence of pesticide residues and their metabolites in environmental samples is hazardous to the health of humans and all other living organisms. Thus, monitoring these compounds is extremely important to en...

Alpha-terthienyl, a naturally occurring secondary plant metabolite is found in abundance in the roots of Tagetes species (family Asterasceae). It is activated by ultraviolet light and is toxic to a number of insect species. It generates oxygen radical species and has capacity to inhibit several enzymes like both in vivo and in vitro. Alpha-terthienyl possesses all the desirable properties of a ...

We have evaluated in vitro the potency of 23 oximes to reactivate human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibited by racemic leptophos-oxon (O-[4-bromo-2,5-dichlorophenyl]-O-methyl phenyl-phosphonate), a toxic metabolite of the pesticide leptophos. Compounds were assayed in concentrations of 10 and 100 μM. In case of leptophos-oxon inhibited AChE,...

Pesticide persistence in soils is a widespread environmental concern agro-ecosystems. One particularly persistent pesticide atrazine, which continues to be found and groundwater the EU despite having been banned since 2004. A range of physical biological barriers, such as sorption mass-transfer into bacterial cells, might limit atrazine degradation soils. These effects have observed experiments...

The European Plant Protection Products Regulation 1107/2009 requires that registrants establish whether pesticide metabolites pose a risk to the environment. Fish acute toxicity assessments may be carried out to this end. Considering the total number of pesticide (re-) registrations, the number of metabolites can be considerable, and therefore this testing could use many vertebrates. EFSA's rec...

We read with interest the analysis by Shelton et al. (2014) of the relationships between maternal proximity to insecticide applica­ tion and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and developmental delay (DD) in children. Although we commend the investigators’ efforts to identify, recruit, and enroll parents of children with ASDs or DD, absent is any confirmation of exposures or that the active ingre...

Although the use of pesticides in inner-city homes of the United States is of considerable magnitude, little is known about the potentially adverse health effects of such exposure. Recent animal data suggest that exposure to pesticides during pregnancy and early life may impair growth and neurodevelopment in the offspring. To investigate the relationship among prenatal pesticide exposure, parao...