We are proud to announce our successful completion of the R & D phase in pesticide analysis and are now ready to analyse your water, soil, food, fruit and vegetable samples.
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PESTICIDES
About 60 years ago, when DDT and other organochlorine pesticides became popular in agriculture, they were considered a safe and effective way to get rid of pests. But over the years, more and more problems associated with the use of pesticides have shown up. Major problems include:
Health risks
Environmental hazards
Loss of biodiversity
Wildlife deaths
Animal and livestock deaths
Interference with natural pest control
Resistance among pests
Unwanted imports
Obsolete and unusable stocks
Residues in food
Water pollution
High input costs
TOXICITY FOR NON-TARGET ORGANISMS
Because pesticides are poisonous they will not only kill target organisms, but also impose a risk on:
The users of the pesticides
Farmers and their family members run the highest risks. They can easily come in contact with the pesticides, for example when mixing the chemicals or when applying them to the crop.
The consumers of farm products.
The pesticides that were sprayed on the crop can leave behind residues that will be eaten by the consumers.
The environment.
Pesticides will not only reach the target organisms but will also kill other organisms (e.g. beneficial insects, birds, earthworms, fish) in or around the crop fields, causing loss of biodiversity, deaths of wild life, and death of farm animals. Soil, air and water bodies can easily be contaminated with these poisonous chemicals. The unavoidable destruction of beneficial insects and spiders interferes with natural pest control.
SOLVING THE PROBLEMS
UIS-AS envisage to assist government regulators, policy makers, farmers, NGOs, development and environment organisations, trade unions, consumers, journalists and the public to help solve pesticides problems, by offering an analytical service. This service will provide useful information in order to:
Eliminate the hazards of pesticides
Reduce dependence on pesticides and prevent the unnecessary use thereof
Increase the sustainable and ecological alternatives to chemical pest control
UIS-AS uses the QuEChERS method that was developed by Anastassiades et. al. The method is designed to be:
Quick (a single technician can prepare 10 GC ready extracts in under an hour)
Easy (multiple transfers and manipulations of the sample are eliminated)
Cheap (the cost of materials is low)
Effective (gives good recoveries of a wide range of pesticides)
Rugged (the method can be repeatably performed after simple training)
Safe (our laboratory solvent usage for pesticide analysis is reduced by 90%+)
The method is suitable for the analysis of many products, for example maize, corn, fruit, vegetables, honey, spices, dried fruit, etc. The laboratory can also analyze for pesticides in environmental samples such as groundwater, surface water, soil and atmospheric air.