Heavy Toxic Metals in Soils and Water

The FSSAI limits for heavy toxic metals in foods are shown in the ‘Food Safety and Standards Regulations’ document, 2009, Chap. 4, Part 4.3: Contaminants and Toxins—Regulation 4.3.1: Metal Contaminants. With relation to analytical protocols, toxic metals in water soil and foods may be easily determined by isolation, conversion in coloured compounds—lead and cadmium can be turned in the corresponding sulphides—and colorimetric estimation. Many different methods may be proposed.

Pesticides in Agricultural Effluents

The use of pesticides in farms varies from country to country. It appears that soils with dense forest infrastructure (more than 33.33 % of land areas) are conserved enough and capable to efficiently breakdown synthetic pesticides. On the other hand, non-conserved soils might not have similar performances. Consequently, there are not fixed standards for pesticides contents in agricultural effluents, at present. For India, agricultural effluents are expected to be almost pesticide-free, and pesticide detection in effluents is required if applied in farms.

With relation to analytical protocols, pesticides in foods and water can be determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry approaches.