Dithiocarbamates residues in Brazilian food and the potential risk for consumers.

Dithiocarbamates are a non-systemic group of pesticides widely used to protect crops from fungal diseases. The current methodology used by monitoring laboratories to determine dithiocarbamates in food involves the analysis of CS(2) generated after hydrolysis of the compound present in the sample. This method does not identify the origin of the CS(2) detected, which may or may not be related to the presence of pesticides leading to a potential overestimation of the dietary dithiocarbamate intake. In this paper, 520 food samples (papaya, banana, apple, strawberry, orange, potato, tomato, rice and dry beans) collected in the local market of the Federal District, Brazil, were analyzed for dithiocarbamate content. Detectable levels (> or =10.10 mg/kg CS(2)) were found in 60.8% of the samples, with the highest levels (up to 3.8 mg/kg) found in strawberry, papaya and banana. No residues were found in rice (polished) and only one dry bean sample had detectable levels of the fungicides. Detectable residues were found in the pulp of banana, papaya (including the seeds) and orange (50-62% of the analyzed samples). An exposure assessment, based on dithiocarbamate levels detected in the food crops analyzed in this study, confirms that the intake of dithiocarbamates through food consumption in the country does not represent a health risk to consumers, i.e., the estimated daily intake is less than the acceptable daily intake. Furthermore, the implementation of more selective methodologies to individually analyze these compounds in food monitoring programs in Brazil is not necessary.

Análise de timol por CLAE na tintura de Lippia sidoides Cham. (alecrim-pimenta) produzida em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento da planta

O teor de timol, princípio ativo usado como marcador nas tinturas das folhas de Lippia sidoides Cham. (Verbenaceae) preparadas com material coletado antes, durante e após a floração e designadas como T1, T2 e T3, foi determinado por CLAE, utilizando-se cromatógrafo Shimadzu CLASS-VP, coluna RP-18 (Supelco), com fase móvel isocrática acetonitrila:água (78:22) e fluxo 0,8 ml/min com detecção em 254 nm. As amostras foram injetadas num volume de 20 μl e analisadas em triplicata. Os teores de timol encontrados foram 1,97 ± 0,07 em T1; 2,00 ± 0,03 em T2 e 2,34 ± 0,06 mg/ml em T3. Os resultados mostram discretas diferenças nas concentrações de timol nas tinturas das folhas de alecrim-pimenta preparadas em diferentes momentos de seu desenvolvimento. Contudo, observou-se que o melhor momento para a coleta da planta parece ser após a sua floração (T3), que mostrou o maior teor de timol.

Lippia sidoides Cham. (Verbenaceae) is popularly known in Northeast Brazil as "alecrim-pimenta". The goal of the present work is to perform a quantitative analysis of timol, used as a marker in phytomedicine prepared from the leaves of L. sidoides, collected before, during and after the flower. At least three samples of tincture of L. sidoides were analyzed by HPLC. Among the samples analyzed, the tincture produced from the leaves after the flower showed slightly high concentration of timol (2,34 ± 0,06 mg/ml) when compared with before (1,97 ± 0,07 mg/ml) or during the flower (2,00 ± 0,03 mg/ml). The best period to collect leaves of L. sidoides seems to be after the flower.