Induction of SCEs and DNA fragmentation in bovine peripheral lymphocytes by in vitro exposure to tolylfluanid-based fungicide

The potential for genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of tolylfluanid-based fungicide (50% active agent) was evaluated using sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and proliferation indices (PI) in cultured bovine peripheral lymphocytes. For the detection of possible genetic damage, DNA fragmentation assay was also applied. Bovine lymphocytes cultured for 72 h were treated with the fungicide at the final concentrations of 1.75, 3.5, 8.75, and 17.5 μg/mL for the last 24 and 48 h of culture without S9 metabolic activation, and during the last 2 h of culture with S9 metabolic activation. In the SCE assays no evidence for genotoxic activity of the fungicide was found in treatments of 24 h without and 2 h with S9. After the 24 h exposure to tolylfluanid, a weak decrease in the PI was observed. With the prolonged exposure time (48 h), dose dependence in the increase of SCE frequencies was observed. Moreover, after 48 h exposure slight fragmentation of DNA at the concentrations of 3.5 and 8.75 μg/mL was demonstrated. SCE quantification is the most widely used approach for the assessment of genotoxic/cytogenetic effects of chemical compounds. Positive results in the assay at 48 h exposure indicated a potential of the fungicide to increase frequency of chromosomal damage (replication injuries) that is the confirmation of early effect of exposure

Guidelines for the validation of qualitative multi-residue methods used to detect pesticides in food

There is a current trend for many laboratories to develop and use qualitative gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based multi-residue methods (MRMs) in order to greatly increase the number of pesticides that they can target. Before these qualitative MRMs can be used for the monitoring of pesticide residues in food, their fitness-for-purpose needs to be established by initial method validation. This paper sets out to assess the performances of two such qualitative MRMs against a set of parameters and criteria that might be suitable for their effective validation. As expected, the ease of detection was often dependent on the particular pesticide/commodity combinations that were targeted, especially at the lowest concentrations tested (0.01¿mg/kg). The two examples also clearly demonstrated that the percentage of pesticides detected was dependent on many factors, but particularly on the capabilities of the automated software/library packages and the parameters and threshold settings selected for operation. Another very important consideration was the condition of chromatographic system and detector at the time of analysis. If the system was relatively clean, then the detection rate was much higher than if it had become contaminated over time from previous injections of sample extracts. The parameters and criteria suggested for method validation of qualitative MRMs are aimed at achieving a 95% confidence level of pesticide detection. However, the presence of any pesticide that is ‘detected’ will need subsequent analysis for quantification and, depending on the qualitative method used, further evidence of identity