Residue Reviews / Ruckstands-Berichte: Residues of Pesticides and Other Foreign Chemicals in Foods and Feeds / Ruckstande von Pestiziden und anderen Fremdstoffen in Nahrungs- und Futtermitteln

156 Pages·1971·5.186 MB·English

by  N. N. Melnikov, M. G. Shevchenko (auth.), Francis A. Gunther (eds.)

RESIDUE REVIEWS
VOLUME 35
RESIDUE REVIEWS
Residues of Pesticides and Other
Foreign Chemicals in Foods and Feeds
RUCKST ANDS-BERICHTE
Rtickstande von Pestiziden und anderen
Fremdstoffen in N ahrungs- und Futtermitteln
Editor
FRANCIS A. GUNTHER
Assistant Editor
JANE DAVIES GUNTHER
Riverside, California
ADVISORY BOARD
F. BAR, Berlin, Germany' F. BRO-RASMUSSEN, Copenhagen, Denmark
J.
W. COOK, Washington, D.C .• D. G. CROSBY, Davis, California
S. DORMAL-VAN DEN BRUEL, Bruxelles, Belgium
C. L. DUNN, Wilmington, Delaware • H. FREHSE, Leverkusen-Bayerwerk, Germany
J. C. GAGE, Macclesfield, England • H. GEISSBUHLER, Basel, Switzerland
S. A. HALL, Beltsville, Maryland' T. H. HARRIS, Bethesda, Maryland
L. W. HAZLETON, Falls Church, Virginia' H. HURTIG, Ottawa, Canada
O. R. KLIMMER, Bonn, Germany' G. K. KOHN, Richmond, California
H. F. LINSKENS, Nijmegen, The Netherlands' H. MAIER-BoDE, Bonn, Germany
N. N. l\fELNIKOV, Moscow, U.S.S.R .• R. MESTRES, Montpellier, France
P. DE PIETRI-ToNELLI, Milano, Italy· R. TRUHAUT, Paris, France
VOLUME 35
,·,.
t
-• "
~
SPRINGER-VERLAG
BERLIN • HEIDELBERG • NEW YORK
1971
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in
any fonn without written pennission from Springer-Verlag.
© 1971 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 62-18595.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1971
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trade marks, etc. in this
publication, even if the fonner are not especially identified, is not to be taken
as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise
Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-9814-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-9812-0
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-9812-0
Preface
That residues of pesticide and other "foreign" chemicals in food
stuffs are of concern to everyone everywhere is amply attested by the
reception accorded previous volumes of "Residue Reviews" and by
the gratifying enthusiasm, sincerity, and efforts shown by all the in
dividuals from whom manuscripts have been solicited. Despite much
propaganda to the contrary, there can never be any serious question
that pest-control chemicals and food-additive chemicals are essential
to adequate food production, manufacture, marketing, and storage, yet
without continuing surveillance and intelligent control some of those
that persist in our foodstuffs could at times conceivably endanger the
public health. Ensuring safety-in-use of these many chemicals is a
dynamic challenge, for established ones are continually being dis
placed by newly developed ones more acceptable to food tech
nologists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, and changing pest-control
requirements in progressive food-producing economies.
These matters are of genuine concern to increasing numbers of
governmental agencies and legislative bodies around the world, for
some of these chemicals have resulted in a few mishaps from improper
use. Adequate safety-in-use evaluations of any of these chemicals per
sisting into our foodstuffs are not simple matters, and they incorporate
the considered judgments of many individuals highly trained in a
variety of complex biological, chemical, food technological, medical,
pharmacological, and tOxicological diSCiplines.
It is hoped that "Residue Reviews" will continue to serve as an
integrating factor both in focusing attention upon those many residue
matters requiring further attention and in collating for variously trained
readers present knowledge in specific important areas of residue and
related endeavors; no other single publication attempts to serve these
broad purposes. The contents of this and previous volumes of "Residue
Reviews" illustrate these objectives. Since manuscripts are published
in the order in which they are received in final form, it may seem that
some important aspects of residue analytical chemistry, biochemistry,
human and animal medicine, legislation, pharmacology, physiology,
regulation, and toxicology are being neglected; to the contrary, these
apparent omissions are recognized, and some pertinent manuscripts
are in preparation. However, the field is so large and the interests in it
are so varied that the editors and the Advisory Board earnestly solicit
suggestions of topics and authors to help make this international book
series even more useful and informative.
v
vi Preface
"Residue Reviews" attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of
timely advances, philosophy, and Significant areas of accomplished or
needed endeavor in the total field of residues of these chemicals in
foods, in feeds, and in transformed food products. These reviews are
either general or specific, but properly they may lie in the domains of
analytical chemistry and its methodology, biochemistry, human and
animal medicine, legislation, pharmacology, physiology, regulation,
and toxicology; certain affairs in the realm of food technology con
cerned specifically with pesticide and other food-additive problems
are also appropriate subject matter. The justification for the prepara
tion of any review for this book-series is that it deals with some aspect
of the many real problems arising from the presence of residues of
"foreign" chemicals in foodstuffs. Thus, manuscripts may encompass
those matters, in any country, which 'are involved in allOwing pesticide
and other plant-protecting chemicals to be used safely in producing,
storing, and shipping crops. Added plant or animal pest-control chem
icals or their metabolites that may persist into meat and other edible
animal products (milk and milk products, eggs, etc.) are also residues
and are within this scope. The so-called food additives (substances
deliberately added to foods for flavor, odor, appearance, etc., as well
as those inadvertently added during manufacture, packaging, distribu
tion, storage, etc.) are also considered suitable review material.
Manuscripts are normally contributed by invitation, and may be in
English, French, or German. Preliminary communication with the
editors is necessary before volunteered reviews are submitted in manu
script form.
Department of Entomology F.A.G.
University of California
Riverside, California
December 7, 1970
Table of Contents
Hygienic normalization of pesticide residues and their tolerance
levels in foodstuffs in the U.S.S.R.
By N. N. MELNIKOV and M. C. SHEVCHENKO . . . . 1
Materials in contact with foodstuffs: Technical and sanitary
grounds in view of a general and specific legislation
By A. SAMPAOLO .............. . 11
Pesticide legislation and residue problems in Portugal
By A. M. S. SILVA FERNANDES ......... . 29
Pesticide regulation in South Africa
By 1. H. WIESE and J. BOT. . . 49
Interaction between herbicides and soil microorganisms
By D. R. CULLIMORE ............. . 65
Pesticide and growth regulator residues in pineapple
By H. Y. YOUNG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Pesticides, pesticide residues, tolerances, and the law (U.S.A.)
By ARTHUR BEVENUE and YOSHlHIKD KA WAND 103
Subject Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
vii
Hygienic normalization of pesticide residues and their
tolerance levels in foodstuHs in the U.S.S.H.
By
N. N. MELNIKOV and M. C. SHEVCHENKO
<) U
Contents
l. Introduction ..... 1
II. General outline of pesticide studies ..... 2
III. Tolerance levels of pesticides in foodstuffs ....... . 4
IV. Tolerance levels of pesticides in forage . . . . . . ................. . 5
V. Normalization of pesticide content in water reservoirs ... . ......... . 5
S~mma,ry ............... .......... ....... . 7
Resume.. . ...... . 8
Zusammenfassung . . . . . . . . . . .......... . 8
References ......................... . ........................ . 8
I. Introduction
In the thirties, just after the mass application of pesticides for
pests and plant disease control began, their application in the Soviet
Union was regulated. The regulation applied not only to application
conditions but to toxicant contents in foodstuffs as well; this regulation
primarily concerned arsenic and fluorine compounds. As the assort
ment of formulations and the scale of their usage in agriculture
widened the methods of pesticide evaluations were improved and
the conditions of their safe application were determined more
accurately.
After the second World War a well-founded scientific system of
preventive measures has been developed in the USSR which makes
it possible to preclude both direct and indirect effects of pesticides
on man. The regulations on pesticide applications to control pests,
plant diseases, and weeds are of the major importance in this system,
as they provide safe conditions for labour and include measures pre
venting the pesticide contamination of food, forage, and open water
reservoirs. The system includes recommendations for treatment of
All-Union Research Institute of Plant Protection Chemicals, Moscow Zh-88,
<)
U.S.S.R.
.... Ministry of Public Health.
1
2 N. N. MELNIKOV and M. G. SHEVCHENKO
growing plants and safety precautions on how to use the pesticide
formulations, time of treating plants and animals (time before harvest
or feeding), tolerance levels of pesticide residues in different products,
etc. As new scientific data on a particular preparation are produced,
the system of their application is also changed in order to exclude
any possibility of harmful effects of pesticides on man.
Strict hygienic regulation on tolerance levels of pesticide quantities
in foodstuffs and systematic state control over their content within
the country ensure full safety of human health from any possible
long-time consequences of pesticide application.
The regulations of pesticide application are worked out by the
Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with corresponding research
institutes and are submitted to the Ministry of Public Health, en
trusted with control duties, for approval.
II. General outline of pesticide studies
Studying of every new pesticide usually begins with general tox
icity determinations (LD50) for some species of experimental animals,
followed by its comprehensive studies in plot and field tests and
the determination of the pesticidal qualities of a preparation. Simul
taneously (if the pesticidal properties are positive) fundamental tox
icological studies are carried out to work out specific measures for
prevention of hazard and hygienic normalization. Both a pure toxicant
and the recommended formulation for its application in agriculture with
the whole group of by-products present in a technical grade product
and in combination with adjuvants are studied for their toxicity.
When studying a new pesticide that belongs to the known class
of chemical compounds, having a definite toxicological characteristic,
its properties are thouroughly compared with the already known com
pounds. Experimental results of the acute and subacute toxicities
carried out when investigating a new pesticide make it possible to
get an idea of the place a new pesticide occupies among the known
substances of this class and to plan its further studies. Comparison
of the data obtained for a new compound with the data known for
other substances of this class makes it possible, as a rule, to get
an idea of the toxicity level.
Along with studies of the acute toxicities of pesticides that get
into organisms in different ways, great attention is paid to the prob
lems of chronic toxicity and to the determination of the cumulative
properties of a pesticide. To determine chronic toxicity different tests
are run, including the method of conditioned reflexes as it is rather
1
sensitive for a given case.
1 Editor's note: See MEDVED', L. I., E. I. SPYNU, and Iu. S. KAGAN: The
method of conditioned reflexes in tOxicology and its application for determining
the toxiCity of small quantities of pesticides. Residue Reviews 6, 42 (1964).
Tolerances in the USSR 3
As is generally known, the cumulative properties of a substance
are much dependent on its physical and chemical properties, including
persistence in the environment, the rate of chemical transformations
in animals, and the rate of their excretion from organisms.
In this connection much attention is payed to the studies of pesti
cide metabolism in different living organisms and to the determination
of metabolite toxicity. A very important section in the outline of new
preparation evaluations is the studies of its reaction with different
enzymatic systems of animals, which is very important to determine
cumulative properties and to learn its mode of action as well.
If the cumulation factor is equal to I, or its value is higher, there
is no reason to suppose that the given substance is transformed into
a more toxic persistent compound in animals, whereas it is possible
to expect the formation of more toxic compounds in animals when
the cumulation factor is less than I. The toxicity factor allows for
toxicity level of a substance to be found since it characterizes the
ratio of LD50, which causes death or serious disease of animals
given daily repeated doses, to a dose given once and causing the
same effect on animals. It should be noted that the level of cumulation
is characterized not only by the cumulation factor value hut also
in certain cases by the critical dose value, i.e., by the maximum quan
tity of substance given to animals daily which will not cause the
danger of getting the cumulation effect.
In case the pesticide is of low persistence and the foodstuffs do
not contain it when harvest takes place, the hygienic studies of this
product become easier.
With a rare exception all the plant-protecting chemicals are
studied in acute, subacute, and chronic tests to find out their ability
to cumulation. Acute and subacute tests supply information on toxic
doses of a pesticide, symptom complexes of poisoning, and reveal
the most easily affected systems in organisms. The latter information
makes it possible to define properties, characterizing the abnormal
functioning of organisms to use them for chronic long-term tests when
studying sensitive animals given small quantities of the substance
to find out the minimum effective concentration. The minimum effec
tive concentration is a very important criterion to characterize the
minimum substance quantity per unit of animal weight, even if it
may cause some small deviations from one of the sensitive tests, when
the preparation is given daily to animals over ten to 12 months or
more. The minimum effective concentration is a starting point for
hygienic normalization of pesticide residues in foodstuffs.
Particular care has been taken in chronic test performance when
studying persistent pesticides capable of remaining in environment
and in living organisms. Not only animals kept in conditions of normal
reactive abilities but also animals stressed with higher physiological
requirements (pregnant, lactating, growing, etc.) are subjected to
these tests.
4 N. N. MELNIKOV and M. G. SHEVCHENKO
As the influence of chemical substances on animals is rather differ
ent the studies of pesticide effect upon biochemical processes, metab
olism processes, change of immuno-biological reactance of organism,
cell growth, formation of tumors and mutations, depression of em
bryonic development, and some other processes, important to deter
mine intoxication, are carried out. Particular importance is attached
to studies of blastomogenic properties of pesticides, particularly those
which can get into foodstuffs even in minimum quantities and hence
systematically get into man's organism.
As there are not yet exact criteria to determine the harmfulness
of chemical compounds depending on the change of these or those
biochemical processes going on under their influence, the problem of
the possibility of application of every particular substance is decided
individually according to the whole complex of its effects on animals
with allowance made for persistence and the possibility to accumulate.
Determination of shifts of separate links of metabolism is one of the
most important factors when studying toxicity of small pesticide con
centrations in particular, the change of protein composition of blood
serum, and inclusion intensity of radioactive amino acids into plasma
and liver proteins. Under the influence of small concentrations of
chemical compounds, when using radioactive compounds, rather dis
tinct depressions of tissue protein resynthesis are detected much
earlier the expressed destruction factors appear. Determination of
sulfhydryl groups in blood, liver, and tissue proteins is also worthy
of notice. Much consideration is being also given to studies of neuro
humoral and vegetative shifts, shifts in the system of adrenal hypo
physis-cortex, disfunction of thyroid gland, etc.
Biological studies of foodstuffs, treated with pesticides, are carried
out along with the study of problems mentioned above. The biological
study of foodstuffs is not obligatory, however, if there are methods
accurate enough to determine pesticide residues.
TIl. Tolerance levels of pesticides in foodstuffs
By a tolerance level of pesticide residues in foodstuffs are meant
quantities, detected by the modem methods and means of analysis,
which cannot cause any pathological changes or diseases when man's
organism is daily exposed throughout his lifetime. Certainly, as knowl
edge of a given pesticide accumulates and investigation and analysis
methods improve, the tolerance level of a particular pesticide in food
stuffs may change either higher or lower.
The tolerance levels of pesticide residues in foodstuffs are estab
lished proceeding from the minimum effective concentration determin
ation found in a long-term chronic test on sensitive animals, with
regard to cumulative properties of a formulation, its persistence in
the environment and in animals, its thermal stability (when cooked),