Risk assessment and chemical decontamination of an oxime carbamate insecticide (methomyl) from eggplant, Solanum melongena L

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 168; no. 1-4; pp. 657 - 668
• Main Authors: Aktar, Md. Wasim, Sengupta, Dwaipayan, Alam, Samsul, Chowdhury, Ashim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01.09.2010; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural practices; Agriculture; Analysis; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bio-efficacy; Biological and medical sciences; Biotransformation; Decontamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; eggplants; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Food Contamination - analysis; Fruits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Insecticides; Insecticides - metabolism; Laboratories; Leucinodes orbonalis; methomyl; Methomyl - metabolism; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Persistence; Pesticide Residues - metabolism; Pesticides; Plant protection; Rain; risk; Risk Assessment; Soil sciences; Solanum melongena; Solanum melongena - metabolism; Studies; Persistence; Risk; Methomyl; Decontamination; Eggplant; Bio-efficacy; Insecticide; Pollutant behavior; Pesticides; Oxime; Risk analysis; Risk assessment; Environmental monitoring; Carbamate; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-009-1141-0

Methomyl, S-methyl (EZ)-N-(methylcarbamoyloxy)thioacetimidate, is a systemic insecticide chosen for the management of shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis G. Codex Alimentarious Commission has proposed a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.2 mg kg ⁻ ¹ of methomyl, and there is a need to validate this value on eggplant. First + first-order model can explain the nonlinear dissipation pattern of methomyl conveniently in comparison to first-order kinetics. The preharvest intervals (PHI) of 27.3 and 35.3 days as obtained from first + first-order model for single and double doses would bring down the methomyl residue below MRL in actual practice. The respective half-lives were 6.6 and 7.8 days. On the other hand, first-order model suggests methomyl dissipated with a half-life value around 5 days and proposed PHIs of 6.57 and 8.57 days for single and double doses, which was far from reality. Hence, five different decontamination agents were chosen for the decontamination of methomyl from eggplant. Safety factors such as theoretical maximum daily intake and maximum permissible intake were used to evaluate risk assessment to human health. A 3-day waiting period for the both doses, following conventional agricultural practice and processing factor could not ensure sufficient margin of safety. Subjecting the data to a processing factor of 60% could not bring the residues below the proposed MRL by Codex. Methomyl is not found appropriate and effective for application in eggplant. Either the proposed MRL needs to be revised or good agricultural practice involving methomyl for plant protection in eggplant cultivation is questioned.