Reduction of pesticide residues on produce by rinsing.

In 1997 this laboratory initiated a research program with the objective of examining the effect that rinsing of produce with tap water would have on pesticide residues. Samples were obtained from local markets and/or grown at our experimental farm. Because approximately 35% of produce from retail sources contains pesticide residues, growing and treating produce at an experimental farm had the advantage that all such samples contain pesticide residues. Pesticides were applied under normal field conditions to a variety of food crops and the vegetation was allowed to undergo natural weathering prior to harvest. The resulting samples contained field-incurred or "field-fortified" residues. This experimental design was employed to mimic as closely as possible real world samples. Crops were treated, harvested, and divided into equal subsamples. One subsample was processed unwashed, whereas the other was rinsed under tap water. The extraction and analysis method used was a multi-residue method developed in our laboratory. Twelve pesticides were included in this study: the fungicides captan, chlorothalonil, iprodione, and vinclozolin; and the insecticides endosulfan, permethrin, methoxychlor, malathion, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, bifenthrin, and DDE (a soil metabolite of DDT). Statistical analysis of the data using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that rinsing removed residues for nine of the twelve pesticides studied. Residues of vinclozolin, bifenthrin, and chlorpyrifos were not reduced. The rinsability of a pesticide is not correlated with its water solubility.

Chlordane uptake and its translocation in food crops.

Chlordane is a member of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs), a group of chemicals characterized by extremely long residence in the environment after application. Technical chlordane, composed of a large number of components, is a synthetic organochlorine substance that was used primarily as an insecticide. Uptake by root crops of persistent soil residues of chlordane was noted early in the chronology of the material. The present report is the first comprehensive study of the uptake of weathered soil residues of chlordane and its translocation throughout the tissues of food crops under both greenhouse and field conditions. The data show that for all 12 crops chlordane is not limited to root tissue but is translocated from the root to some of the aerial tissues. Chlordane accumulation in edible aerial tissue appears to be dependent on plant physiology. As expected, chlordane was detected in the edible root tissue of the three root crops examined, carrots, beets, and potatoes. In the remaining crops chlordane was detected in the edible aerial tissue of spinach, lettuce, dandelion, and zucchini, whereas it was not detected in edible aerial tissue of tomatoes, peppers, and corn; trace amounts of chlordane were detected in the edible aerial tissue of bush beans and eggplant. Under the conditions of the field trial the data indicate that for weathered chlordane residues, the soil-to-plant uptake route dominates over the air-to-plant uptake route. This is the case even when the soil concentration of the recalcitrant, weathered residues, for which volatilization is expected to be minimal, is as high as it would be directly following application. Greenhouse trials confirm this observation for zucchini, a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which bioaccumulates weathered chlordane very efficiently in its edible fruits.

Extraction, purification by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of taxanes from ornamental Taxus needles.

Needles from ornamental yews (Taxus spp.) are known to contain significant amounts of the anticancer agent Taxol (paclitaxel), as well as other analogous taxane compounds. Methanol extracts the taxanes from the needles efficiently, but the crude methanolic extract contains large amounts of co-extractives in addition to the taxanes of interest. The crude extract may be fractionally partitioned using C18 solid-phase extraction (SPE), permitting the collection of a fraction in which the taxanes elute quantitatively. This fraction can then be analyzed directly by means of high-performance liquid chromatography. We have successfully scaled-up the quantity of crude extract partitioned by means of the SPE technique, using larger SPE cartridges prepared in our laboratory as well as using Empore extraction disks. SPE using the Empore disks permits us to collect large quantities of the taxane fraction for studies on its cytostatic effect on non-mammalian eukaryotic cells.

Identification of volatile components of bobcat (Lynx rufus) urine.

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) urine reduces scent-marking activity of woodchucks (Marmota monax) and feeding activity of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and deer (Odocoileus virginianus, O. hemionus). In order to identify the semiochemicals responsible for these behavior modifications, a dichloromethane extract of the bobcat urine was analyzed by GC-MS. Among the known compounds identified in the extract are phenol, indole, dimethyl sulfone, and 3-mercapto-3-methylbutanol. Compounds for which spectroscopic data are presented for the first time include one sulfide, two disulfides, and two trisulfides. The sulfur compounds are derived from an amino acid,S-(l,1-dimethyl-3-hydroxypropyl)cysteine ("felinine"), which was identified several years ago in the urine of the domestic cat (Felis domesticus).

Aversive responses of white-tailed deer,Odocoileus virginianus, to predator urines.

We tested whether predator odors could reduce winter browsing of woody plants by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Urine from bobcats (Lyra rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) significantly reduced browsing of Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata), and repellency was enhanced when urine was reapplied weekly as a topical spray. Urine of cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) and humans did not reduce damage, suggesting that deer do not respond aversively to odors of nonpredatory mammals or occasional predators with which they lack a long evolutionary association. Bobcat and coyote urine were more effective in tests conducted with eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), which is less palatable to white-tailed deer than Japanese yew. A dichloromethane extract of bobcat urine was as effective as unextracted urine in reducing damage to hemlocks. Testing of the organic components of bobcat urine, particularly the volatile components, may enable identification of the compounds responsible for the repellency we observed.