Pesticide residues in food items and their public health significance

摘要

To feed the burgeoning population of our country, scientists arc trying to increase the production of foodgrains. It is estimated that around 45 percent of potential yield of foodgrains is currently destroyed by weeds, diseases and insect pests before and after harvesting. If one thinks of a world of exploding population and the growing spectra of new pests which often compete with humans for food, the question arises, how one can survive? The answer lies in the pesticides, which are the only weaponavailable with man to protect his food resources from sowing to storage. Pesticides when used, leave some amount of it in non-targeted plants or animals, the residues. A study on such residues in food items, and health significance appears here.