Trace Determination Of Pesticides And Their Degradation Products In Water Book Reprint

The book covers a critical compilation of analytical methods used for the monitoring of pesticides and their degradation products in water. It contains up-to-date material and is the direct result of the authors' experience in the field of pesticide analysis. The book is structured in six chapters, starting from general aspects of pesticides like usage, physicochemical parameters and occurrence in the environment. A second chapter is devoted to sampling from water matrices, stability methods of pesticides in water and quality assurance issues. The general chromatographic methods for pesticides are reported, including the newly developed electrophoresis methods and GC-MS and LC-MS confirmatory analytical methods. Sample preparation methodologies, including off-line and on-line techniques are described in the next two chapters, with a comprehensive list of examples of pesticides and many metabolites, including the use of different GC-methods and LC-methods. The final chapter is devoted to the development of biological techniques, immunoassays and biosensors, for the trace determination of pesticides in water samples. The book answers one of the key problems in pesticide analysis: the diversity of chemical functional groups, with varying polarity and physicochemical properties. Pesticides and their metabolites have received particular attention during the last few years in environmental trace-organic analysis. For instance, in the case of groundwater, the use of pesticides has become a cause for concern. Under the right conditions, pesticides, such as fertilizer nitrogen, can move through the soil into groundwater, a phenomenon once thought improbable. The movement of agrochemicals in surface water flow can be, in some instances, a major problem, specially in the case of water soluble pesticides that are generally transported to estuarine and coastal waters. Estuarine waters feature gradients of both pollutant concentrations and physicochemical characteristics such as salinity, turbidity and pH, and all these parameters must be carefully considered when developing methods of analysis for trace organics in estuarine waters. One of the key parameters in analytical determination is the environmental sampling. Different protocols and devices are needed for sampling sea-water samples - usually using large sample volumes of more than 50 litres either with LLE or SPE, with the problems encountered due to dissolved and particulate matter - which is different from drinking water and well water sampling. The representativeness of the sampling is also of concern. The sample preparation of organic compounds from water matrices has been recognized to be a bottleneck and it has been traditionally neglected in the literature. We should comment following R.W. Frie's ideas - that the most sophisticated hardware is useless if the chemistry in the protocol does not work. During the last few years new adsorbents have appeared - carbon type, polymeric sorbents with high capacity and immunosorbents - which can more efficiently trap the more polar compounds. The development of advanced automation methods based, usually on solid phase extraction techniques - PROSPEKT, OSP-2 and ASPEC XL - are examples of commercially available equipment that are of growing importance. These systems are generally coupled to LC and GC techniques. Sampling and sample handling can not be regarded as separate techniques in the analytical process and both should be integrated into the whole analytical determination. For this reason, validation and confirmation methods, such as mass spectrometry, either GC-MS and/or LC-MS, are needed. These serve to check the quality assurance of the developed method. The discussion between multiscreening versus specific methods of analysis and the influence of the matrix (ground-, surface- and estuarine-water), is also a point of concern due to the diversity of chemical classes within the compounds of study.

Public policy is regularly shaken by health crises or unexpected discoveries; future directions in toxicology assessment are therefore urgently needed. Convergent evidences suggest endocrine or nervous disrupting effects of pesticides, as well as effects on wildlife and the environment. These effects are amplified by the use of surfactants and/or combinations of different active principles. The usual concepts of regulatory toxicology are challenged by endocrine, nervous or immune disruption, or epigenetic effects. Indeed, most pollutants alter cell-cell communication systems to promote chronic diseases. They may accumulate in the food chain. Mixtures effects with other pollutants may change their bioavailability and their toxicity. The lack of scientific knowledge in these matters has large costs for public health. This Research Topic focuses on the toxic effects of pesticides associated with large scale cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants.

The generation of wastes as a result of human activities has been continuously speeding up since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Hence, both optimized waste water treatment technologies and modern tools to assess the effects of pollution sources are necessary to prevent the contamination of aquatic ecosystems The book offers an interdisciplinary collection of topics concerning waste water treatment technologies, water quality monitoring and evaluation of waste water impact on natural environments. We hope that this publication will be helpful for graduate students, environmental professionals and researchers of various disciplines related to waste water.

Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues. The committee focuses on four major areas: Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides? Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure? Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age? Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life? This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.