Chemical Pesticides Agro Chemicals

• Analysis of technical grade pesticides and formulations
• Residual pesticide analysis
• Establishing of MRL values for pesticides
• Certification of organic farming products
• Shelf life studies as per CIB guidelines
• Analytical toxicology of agrochemicals

Solids
Dust or powders Granules, Pellets, Tablets Particulates or Baits 
Dry flowables
Wettable powders
Ear tag/Vapour strips 
Seed treatment WDGs 

Liquids
Suspensions Concentrate (Flowables)
Solutions Emulsifiable concentrates
Gels Aerosol 
Ultralow volume concentrates 
Microemulsions Suspoemulsions

Gases
Fumigants sold as liquids or solids

• Chemistry of the active ingredient
• Toxicology of active ingredient
• Effectivity of the product against the pest
• Effectivity of the product on the plant, animal or surface
• Effectivity of the product on the environment
• Method of application and equipment used
• Rate of application

• To ensure the percentage purity of active ingredient in both technical gradesand formulations as per the labelled claim by the manufacturers
• To ensure the suitability of the pesticide formulation for its intended use.
• To ensure safe and judicious use of pesticides
• To ensure the shelf life of active ingredient.

• Bureau of Indian Standard specifications.
• CIPAC
• WHO specifications
• FAO specifications
• AOAC specifications

Type of Materials / Formulations

Test parameters

Technical grade pesticides

Moisture content, melting point, setting point, isomeric ratio, relative density, acidity / alkalinity

Water dispersible powder

Sieving test, suspensibility, wettability, acidity / alkalinity

Dusting powder

Sieving test for particle size, bulk density after compacting, acidity / alkalinity

Granules

Encapsulation i.e. Attrition test and water run-off test, sieving test for granule size, sieving test for dust, moisture, acidity/alkalinity.

Emulsifiable concentrates, Soluble liquids

Emulsion stability, cold test, acidity/alkalinity, flash point.

Major Categories of Residual Pesticides

• Persistent nature of pesticides
• Unawareness amongst farmers
• Contamination of water and soil
• Direct application of pesticides during storage
• Improper timings of pesticide application

• Residual pesticides is one of the important factors to prove that the food is safe for consumption
• Mandatory requirements by regulatory authorities for all exports of food and food products
• Mandatory requirement of PFA for domestic market

• Residual analysis of all pesticides in ppb to sub ppb levels as per the EU, WHO, USFDA and PFA norms as applicable in

Food grains
Fruits and vegetables
Meat and meat products
Water and Beverages

Honey
Milk and milk products
Spices
Processed foods

• Method development and validation for determination of residual pesticides in complex matrices

• Data generation for studying residual effects of new pesticide molecules for registration of the product with CIB

Number of pesticides registered in India 
Pesticides for which MRLs have been fixed under PFA act, 1954 
Pesticides for which MRLs yet to be fixed 
Pesticides for which registration data has been submitted but MRLs not fixed 
Pesticides for which no data is available

– 181
– 71
– 32
– 24
– 8

For certain banned pesticides – Still no data is available

• For India to build its own food standards based on scientific and health criteria under the Indian conditions keeping in view the international norms.
• Revision of standards to be an ongoing process
• R & D on daily intake of various food items to decide the intake rate of pesticides
• Regular agreement of actual exposure of consumers to pesticide residues with respect to the diet basket.

• Environmental factors such as:
  • Temperature
  • Light
  • Air
  • Oxygen
  • Moisture
  • Carbon dioxide
• Other ingredients in the formulations
• Leachings from containers

• Stability testing of pesticides is based upon well designed studies to determine the retention of product integrity (i.e. percent active ingredient, physical characteristics, chemical parameters and efficacy) as a function of time. Studies are done at accelerated conditions as well as controlled room temperature conditions.
• The product samples are analysed at various intervals by validated analytical methods.

• Pesticides or their formulations are stored under three different agro-climatic conditions of the country
• Properties are determined at fixed intervals of time over a prolonged period to study the deterioration pattern

• Without any use of chemical pesticides, fungicides or weedicides
• Without any use of chemical fertilizers (eg urea, potassium sulfate, superphosphate etc.)

• All seeds and plant material should be certified as organic i.e. seeds and plants should not be chemically treated with any synthetic pesticides.
• Accumulation of heavy metals in the soil should be minimal
• Manure should be certified as organic
• Water used for irrigation should be free from pesticides or heavy metal contamination.
• The livestock should be fed 100% organically grown feed of good quality
• All relevant measures should be taken to minimize pesticide contamination from outside and within the farm by wind drift, drainage and irrigation.
• No use of fumigants or chemicals during storage

• Farm certification
• Product certification

• Product of organic produce
• Crop during the stages of its growth
• Soil used for organic farming
• Feed for the live stock
• Water used for irrigation

• Pesticides, herbicides or fungicides
• Heavy metals
• Minerals and fertilizers

• Oral
• Dermal
• Inhalation
• Skin and eye irritation

• Long term toxicity studies
• Mutagenecity studies
• Reproductive studies on rats
• Carcinogenecity studies on rats and mice

• IIRT provides the customer based requirements for development of different type of pesticides formulations whether aqueous based or oil based.
• IIRT also provides the services for development of surface-active agents for the pesticide formulations. It includes the development of new generation environmental friendly formulations.