PESTICIDE RESIDUES.

The article reports the presence of pesticide residues in cheese and carrots. Organochlorines can enter the human food chain in a number of ways. One of the more unusual is via grazing livestock; cattle may involuntarily ingest up to 18% of their intake as soil. If grazing land has been treated with organochlorines, bioaccumulation may occur. Fat rich products from the livestock, particularly cheese, butter and milk may subsequently contain the pesticide. A study of the accumulation of organochlorine pesticides in commonly consumed cheeses in Spain observed that of the 146 samples collected, 94.5% were observed to contain chlordane although its use had been banned since 1977. DDT (insecticide) was also observed and occurred in many of the samples. Organophosphorus residues, notably chlorfenvinphos, phorate, triazophos, quinalphos and primiphos-methyl, have been increasingly used in Great Britain over the last 25 years to control carrot fly (Psila rosae). By the mid-1990s, virtually the entire carrot crop was routinely sprayed up to a maximum of nine times per year. The researchers analysed carrots individually and found unexpectedly high residues of Organophosphorus insecticides.