Fates and models for exposure pathways of pyrethroid pesticide residues: A review.

Pyrethroids (PYs) are widely applied pesticides whose residues pose potential health risks. This review describes current knowledge on PY chemical properties, usage patterns, environmental and food contamination, and human exposure models. It evaluates life cycle assessment (LCA), chemical alternatives assessment (CAA), and high-throughput screening (HTS) as tools for pesticide policy. Despite efforts to mitigate PY presence, their pervasive residues in the environment and food persist. And the highest concentrations ranged from 54,360 to 80,500 ng/L in water samples from agricultural fields. Food processing techniques variably reduce PY levels, yet no method guarantees complete elimination. This review provides insights into the fates and exposure pathways of PY residues in agriculture and food, and highlights the necessity for improved PY management and alternative practices to safeguard health and environment.

Evaluating the Safety of Bacillus cereus GW-01 Obtained from Sheep Rumen Chyme.

Bacillus cereus is responsible for 1.4-12% food poisoning outbreaks worldwide. The safety concerns associated with the applications of B. cereus in health and medicine have been controversial due to its dual role as a pathogen for foodborne diseases and a probiotic in humans and animals. In this study, the pathogenicity of B. cereus GW-01 was assessed by comparative genomic, and transcriptome analysis. Phylogenetic analysis based on a single-copy gene showed clustering of the strain GW-01, and 54 B. cereus strains from the NCBI were classified into six major groups (I-VI), which were then associated with the source region and sequence types (STs). Transcriptome results indicated that the expression of most genes related with toxins secretion in GW-01 was downregulated compared to that in the lag phase. Overall, these findings suggest that GW-01 is not directly associated with pathogenic Bacillus cereus and highlight an insightful strategy for assessing the safety of novel B. cereus strains.

Causal inference and mechanism for unraveling the removal of four pesticides from lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) via ultrasonic processing and various immersion solutions.

This study explores the reduction of carbamates (CAs) and pyrethroids (PYs) - commonly used pesticides - in lettuce using various immersion solutions and ultrasonic processing. It also examines the role of machine learning and molecular docking in understanding the mechanisms of pesticide reduction. The results revealed that the highest reduction of both CAs and PYs exceeded 80 % on lettuce leaves. In most samples, the reduction increased with the power of ultrasonic processing and processing time. The results of machine learning models (XGBoost and SHAP) showed that during the immersion cleaning of CAs and PYs, as well as during both immersion cleaning and ultrasonic processing of CAs + PYs, the reduction was most influenced by the initial pesticide levels and immersion time. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of lettuce's wax layer identified 24 compounds, including fatty alcohols, fatty acids, fatty acid esters, and triterpenoids. Despite the absence of active sites, the lipophilic nature of long-chain aliphatic compounds aids in pesticide binding, while triterpenoids form strong hydrogen bonds with pesticides, indicating a robust adsorption on the lettuce surface. This study aims to offer insights into the efficient removal of chemical pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables, addressing critical concerns for food safety and human health.