A first approximation to the adjustment of pesticide use and theoretical MRL's and ADI accomplishment in fruits and vegetables in Uruguay

Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables (F&V) are of primary concern as these foods can be usually consumed as such. Little if any processing is done before their consumption apart from peeling and washing, depending on the type of F&V considered. Because of that, monitoring programs are performed all over the world to ensure legal MRL's accomplishment. The MRLs pursue two main objectives: to enforce Good Agricultural Practices accomplishment and protect consumers' health. In Uruguay, the number of legally allowed pesticides dropped from 453 to 285 active principles during the past decade. For instance, no pesticide of toxicological Level I is permitted in the country. In this work, thorough research on the active principles employed in Uruguay in F&V was performed. Of 233 pesticides registered for the 35 most cultured and consumed F&V in the country, 72 are insecticides, 60 are fungicides, and 101 herbicides. Among the insecticides, 20 were OPs, 10 carbamates, 11 pyrethroids, 6 neonicotinoids, and 25 belong to other chemical classes (matrine, azadirachtin, spinosad, abamectin, chlorantraniliprole a.o.). Most of the 60 fungicides active principles belong to the dithiocarbamates, Cyt-P450 inhibitors, and strobilurins chemical classes. A deterministic approach for evaluating chronic dietary risk for pesticide intake was performed following the recommended procedures by the World Health Organization (WHO) for chlorpyrifos, an insecticide from the organophosphate class, and the two most employed dithiocarbamates in Uruguay: Mancozeb and Ziram. The National Maximum Theoretical Daily Intake (IDTMN) was calculated using consumption data of fruits and vegetables of the National Survey of Household Expenditure and Income (ENGIHS), the Accepted Daily Intake (ADI), and the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL). As a result of the deterministic analysis, chlorpyrifos theoretical intake represented 92% of the IDA value below the safety limits. Nevertheless, as chlorpyrifos is allowed to be used in other highly consumed commodities such as cereals and grains, the maximum value of IDA for it can be easily reachable. In the case of dithiocarbamates, the results varied depending on the studied compound. The MRL for the whole chemical class is expressed as mg of CS 2 /kg sample, and correction factors for each specific compound must be applied to assess dietary risk assessment. Within this context, Mancozeb represented 48% of the IDA and Ziram 427% IDA. The results of a monitoring program on a seasonal basis of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables will be presented to refine the values obtained with the theoretical calculations; aiming to verify the adjustment of the established MRLs to the Uruguayan diet will be presented and discussed.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació

Dance discover criticism discover dance

El crítico de cartelera, productor de textos cortos que oscilan entre el carácter descriptivo, interpretativo y evaluativo, estimuló la utilización de profesionales a cargo de teatro o de música a abordar el desafío de ejercer la crítica de danza, restándole margen de acción a la especialización, que sólo se vislumbra en la última década del siglo pasado, con el fortalecimiento de los brazos académicos. A partir de la segunda mitad de la década del setenta, y especialmente en los años ochenta, la proliferación de la creación coreográfica fue proporcional a la proliferación de espacios en la prensa y los críticos europeos comienzan a ganar visibilidad a la par de los pioneros norteamericanos. Quien escribía de danza expandió su registro de apreciación en proporciones inusuales y, generado este mercado aparece el personaje del crítico de cartelera, figura que también tuvo lugar en la crítica latinoamericana de danza

Seasonal surveillance of pesticide residues and preliminary dietary risk assessment in commonly consumed F&V in Uruguay

Fruits and vegetables are essential foods for a balanced diet. They have the particularity that they are mostly consumed as such, without further processing. Therefore, the concentration of residues from the application of phytosanitary products for crop protection must be controlled. On average, Uruguay consumes less than half of the F&V recommended by the WHO. For that reason, a consumption incentive program called "Smart Basket or Smart List” has been developed in the last few years. In this work, seasonal monitoring of fruits and vegetables is being carried out to know the positive findings in the different matrices, their concentrations, and their relationship regarding the maximum residue limits. The monitoring results since the summer of 2020 for matrices such as onion, tomato, citrus, apple, pumpkin, carrot, eggplant, and grapes are presented. Each analytical methodology for the selected F&V was validated using a QuEChERS AOAC 2007.01 scheme, working with the Codex Alimentarius groups and contrasting the figures of merit required by the current SANTE document to ensure the quality of the results obtained. The method was adjusted for the GC-MS/MS determination of approximately 80 analytes, depending on the matrix under study. For most of the matrices studied, at least one pesticide residue was found within the method’s scope, belonging to the technological package used for each matrix. In turn, almost all the concentrations for the cases studied were below the Codex MRL values. Regarding the identities of the findings, 22 compounds were the most detected, mainly insecticides and fungicides. The generation of empirical data will allow us to refine the calculations presented in previous communications and go from working with theoretical concentrations or Maximum Limits to distributions of total concentrations. This work aims to obtain a phased or gradual approach to an intake risk assessment and a global overview of the compliance of the Codex MRLs with the findings for the Uruguayan situation.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació

Pesticide residues in onion varieties marketed in Uruguay

Onion is one of the most consumed vegetables all over the world, and Uruguay is not the exception. As a part of a global study of the pesticide intake of the Uruguayan population, we present the results of the evaluation of pesticide residues content in three onion varieties marketed in Montevideo. Samples of spring onion (Allium fistulosum), white and red onion (Allium cepa) were analyzed for 57 pesticide residues through gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The compounds studied included the pesticides approved to be applied to onion plus the banned organochlorines. As onion is a bulb, the food contamination by non-approved and no longer used organochlorines cannot be dismissed because they are very persistent compounds that are still found in soils of old farms, where horticultural activities have been carried out for decades. The method will be useful for the monitoring of pesticde residues in onions markted in Uruguay, aiming to perfrmo risk assesment studies on pesticde exposure of the uruguayan population.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació