Environmental Public Health Journal 2015 | BCIT Institutional Repository

Environmental Public Health Journal 2015

Consumers knowledge regarding pesticides on apples and effective washing to remove the pesticides
Objectives: With the increased health awareness, there is a growing demand of fresh produce in food. Not only is there a possibility of the fresh produce to be contaminated with harmful micro-organisms, but also chemicals such as pesticides that have harmful adverse effects. The effective method of washing the fruit can reduce the level of pesticide residue to a significant amount. The objective of the study is to determine if the general public is aware of washing the produce properly and if knowledge, age, gender, education or concerns have any association with the effectiveness of washing. Methods: The study was done using a survey that was designed using Google Forms. An online survey which was self-administered was sent out using snowball sampling. The survey was publicized through both email and social media Facebook. The survey had 19 questions in total 11 of which were general and 8 were knowledge based. The results were analysed by Chi-square test using NCSS Software Package. Results: It was found that there is a statistically significant association between knowledge level and effective method of washing the apples with a p-value of 0.00082. This means H0 is rejected; hence it means there is an associative between knowledge level and effectively washing the apples. No other demographic factors (age, gender, education, concerns, or having children) were found to be associated with the method of washing the produce effectively. Conclusion: It was found through the study that the people who were aware and had good knowledge about the presence of chemicals (pesticides) on apples would wash their fruit (apples) effectively enough that will reduce the pesticide residue on fruits more than people who aren’t aware of the pesticides on fruits. Other factors such as age, gender, preference for the type of food were not found to have any association with washing of the fruit effectively or higher level of knowledge., Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2015., Peer-reviewed article, Published., Peer reviewed, Apples, Washing, Pesticides, Knowledge
Pesticide residues in organic apples
Objectives: The popularity of organic diets continues to increase even without sound evidence that these diets are healthier than conventional diets. As its popularity increases, organic foods become more readily available and accessible to the public, and genuinity comes into question as farmers and retailers find ways to profit from this trend. Although organic produce will never be completely free of pesticides, they are expected to have considerably lower amounts. In recent years, pesticide residues in organic apples have been found to be at levels higher than normal background levels, indicating intentional application by farmers. Thiabendazole, diphenylamine, and myclobutanil are some of the more common synthetic pesticides that have been found in organic apples; therefore, the following study tested whether or not the levels of thiabendazole, diphenylamine, and myclobutanil in organic apples were below the acceptable organic standards of 5% of their respective Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). Methods: A modified QuEChERS method involving juicing and extraction was used to recover pesticides from the organic apples. Two additional samples were spiked with 1 ppm of each pesticide as controls to determine if the method was able to detect the pesticides. One sample was spiked before the juicing step, and the other sample was spiked after the juicing step. Samples were then analyzed using gas chromatography. Results: Thiabendazole, diphenylamine, and myclobutanil were not detected in all 30 organic apple samples. Furthermore, these pesticides were only detected in the one of the spiked samples – the sample which was spiked after it was juiced. Conclusion: Organic apples grown in BC meet the organic standard of containing pesticide residue levels below 5% of the MRL, at least for thiabendazole, diphenylamine, and myclobutanil. However, since pesticides were not detected in the sample which was spiked before juicing, the methodology of this study may require modification. One possible reason for this finding is that pesticides may be concentrated in the pulp that is separated during juicing, therefore suggesting that juicing apples may be a good practice for reducing the consumption of pesticides., Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2015., Peer-reviewed article, Published., Peer reviewed, Pesticides, Pesticide residues, Thiabendazole, Diphenylamine, Myclobutanil, Organic apples, Organic