Pesticide residues

Pesticide residue refers to the pesticides that may remain on or in food after they are applied to food crops. The maximum allowable levels of these residues in foods are often stipulated by regulatory bodies in many countries. Exposure of the general population to these residues most commonly occurs through consumption of treated food sources, or being in close contact to areas treated with pesticides such as farms or lawns.

Many of these chemical residues, especially derivatives of chlorinated pesticides, exhibit bioaccumulation which could build up to harmful levels in the body as well as in the environment.Persistent chemicals can be magnified through the food chain and have been detected in products ranging from meat, poultry, and fish, to vegetable oils, nuts, and various fruits and vegetables.

A pesticide is a substance or a mixture of substances used for killing pests: organisms dangerous to cultivated plants or to animals. The term applies to various pesticides such as insecticide, fungicide, herbicide and . Applications of pesticides to crops and animals may leave residues in or on food when it is consumed, and those specified derivatives are considered to be of toxicological significance.

From post-World War II era, chemical pesticides have become the most important form of pest control. There are two categories of pesticides, first-generation pesticides and second-generation pesticide. The first-generation pesticides, which were used prior to 1940, consisted of compounds such as arsenic, mercury, and lead. These were soon abandoned because they were highly toxic and ineffective. The second-generation pesticides were composed of synthetic organic compounds. The growth in these pesticides accelerated in late 1940s after Paul Müller discovered DDT in 1939. The effects of pesticides such as aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane, parathion, captan and 2,4-D were also found at this time. Those pesticides were widely used due to its effective pest control. However, in 1946, people started to resist to the widespread use of pesticides, especially DDT since it harms non-target plants and animals. People became aware of problems with residues and its potential health risks. In the 1960s, Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring to illustrate a risk of DDT and how it is threatening biodiversity.

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