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Abstract Successful control of agricultural pests and pathogens is based on effective pesticides of acceptable quality that do not cause undesirable adverse effects when used at recommended rates. In fact, the use of nonstandard products (fake, counterfeit pesticides) can have serious adverse effects on human health and the environment, and the use of these products may result in unsatisfactory or sufficient results towards the target pests As well as the accumulation of residues in the environment and food crops, such products often contain impurities or other chemicals that can increase their toxicity to mammals and other types of non-target organisms. Several reports and estimates, particularly for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), indicate that as of the first decade of the current century, such pesticides have increased in the markets of developing countries, accounting for about 30%, and that they did not meet internationally accepted quality standards. With regard to the Egyptian market, it faces such a problem on a large scale according to the estimates of the responsible authorities. For this purpose, both FAO and WHO developed and published standard specifications for technical substances and formulations, with the aim of being used as international reference standards on which to judge commercial products of pesticides traded on the market. Of course, the responsible authorities in the country encourage factories and plants working in the field of pesticides production and formulations to work and take the necessary measures to control the quality of their products, and take such specifications for general purposes to control pesticides traded in the markets. According to what is published regarding the local laws and regulations of the Pesticides Committee (the responsible body in the country).Taking the previous into consideration, the present study is concerned with focusing on the different aspects of the subject through: identify the procedures for monitoring the quality of pesticide products traded in Egyptian markets, evaluate the quality of the preparations to the specifications declared on the label, determination of physico - chemical properties of commercial packaging samples of pesticide products traded on the market and quality control and measures to enforce the standards for preparations and packaging of pesticides produced in a factory - case study of Starchem plant for the manufacture of chemicals and pesticides (6th of October City). The study was carried out using the following materials and methods: 1- A questionnaire was prepared for the companies and factories working in the field of pesticide formulations. The questionnaire was prepared in Arabic, and included different aspects of: Definition of the facility (5 questions) - Quality management procedures (5 questions) - Technical aspects and quality standards (25 questions) - Waste management and occupational safety (12 questions). The questionnaires were distributed and collected after being completed by questionnaired plants (11 companies engaged in the import and distribution of pesticides, 5 different factories. Data were extracted, compiled, presented, and analyzed statistically using standard deviation. 2- The accompanying data label for 90 packages collected for various pesticide formulations from the markets of pesticide shops in several regions in Sharkia governorate (Agronil), Cairo (Mahallat Taht Alrrubue) were conformed based on the design of the label accompanying the pesticide packaging by the Pesticides Committee. 3. The physico-chemical properties of 30 samples of pesticide products traded in the markets (EC and WP formulations) which collected from pesticide shops in four governorates (Cairo, Giza, Qaliubia and Sharqia) were analyzed according to the CIPAC 2003 standard methods, Tests included determination of pH value, Persistent Foam, Emulsion stability and Wettability. 4. A case study of the quality control procedures in the Starchem Plant for the Manufacture of Chemicals was conducted through field observation and factory responses on the above mentioned questionnaire. Also, The physico-chemical properties of a number of samples produced in the plant have been analyzed according to the method previously mentioned for EC and WP. The SC formulation were subjected to Suspensibility, Spontaniety and Pourability tests. The most important obtained results could be summarized as follows: I- Information of the inspected factories and their quality control procedures: 1- Most of the investigated companies (80%) are importing and distributing pesticide products, and one company mentioned that it is working also in pesticide formulations. 2- More than 40% were established between 1996 and 2016 (17% of which were established from 1996-2006 and 25% from 2006-2016, while 33% of factories and companies were established more than twenty years ago). 3 - Insecticides represent the first category (100%) in terms of production and marketing of the studied establishments, followed by fungicides (80-90%), herbicides (80-82%), nematicides (60-73%) and other pesticides (20-64%). 4. Most of the pesticides produced are for agricultural use, followed by public health pesticides 5- Most pesticides companies and factories (91%) apply the Egyptian Standards for the Pesticides Committee, while the environmental standards are applied by only 27% of the companies, in contrast to the factories that responded that they apply both 100% 6- The proportion of pesticide companies that apply quality control standards to their products after operation and before leaving the factory for the markets is only 4 - 36%, while 100% of the factories mentioned to follow this procedure 7- Companies which have special laboratory for internal control of the quality of products is only 9%, while the investigated factories have all decided (100%) to have their own factories. 8- The percentage of companies that obtained the ISO 9001 quality certificate (9%) is the same as the percentage of companies that have obtained the ISO 14001 environmental certificate, while all the factories have reported to have both. 9- The factories that are interested only in estimating the percentage of the active ingredient in the product is about 41%. For the physicochemical properties and characteristics of the containers, the factories that are interested in their estimation are only 33.3%. 10- About 80% of the factories committed the international standards (WHO) and enforce them. 11- Most of the investigated companies (about 91%) do not have practices to deal with obsolete pesticides. II. The status and specifications of the label of the marketable packages: 1- The labels of 100% of the tested packages contain the commercial name, the common name, the chemical composition and the percentage of the active ingredient, while 1% of the packages do not contain the pictogram and the color of the packaging indicating hazard categories. 2- About 4% of the investigated packages do not contain information about use, and about 7% do not contain safety precautions and first aid.3. About 12% of labels do not contain anti-dote, and 6% of the labels does not contain information deal with the compound hazard. 4. About 17% of the labels did not mention the pre-harvest period (PHI). 5- About 13% of the labels did not contain the local registration number, and about 18% did not mention the operating number. III: Physico-chemical properties of commercial products traded on the market: 1- The results of the test of seven emulsified chlorpyrifos were shown to differ in the percentage of the foam layer. The pyriban-A product from El-Helb Pesticides and Chemicals Company (New Damietta Free Zone) and Pestiban from the National Agrochemical Company (Agrochem) are lower in the percentage of the presence of foams, followed by a Tafaban product produced by El-Help Pesticides and then by Pyrifos -El-Nasr, produced by NSC, then chlorpyriphos and Chlorzan produced by and KZ , respectively. 2. The results showed that all the above seven formulations were in compliance with international standards in terms of emulsifying stability after half an hour, while non-conformance with the international standards appeared in six formulations, as a result of exceeding the cream layer formed after two hours of maximum limits. 3. The seven formulations of chlorpyriphos failed to test emulsion stability after 24.5 hours, as well as in the free oil layer formed at the same time. 4- The results of the test of emulsification stability and the formation of the foam layer for four different preparations (lambda cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos methyl, and two different preparations of malathion) showed that they all conform to the international standards in the level of the foam layer, as well as the complete emulsification after half an hour. After half an hour was also identical, but the difference and mismatch appeared in three of formulations after two hours of emulsification, where the proportion of the layer of creams exceeded the limits set internationally for each type of formulation, and the layer of free oil was not conform to specifications either after 2 hours or 24.5 hours. 5 - The results of the test of two different formulations of abamectin and two different preparations of the emamectin benzoate produced by the National Company for Agrochemicals and Investment, El-Helb pesticides and chemicals, respectively, the samples conform to international standards in terms of level of foam and the layer of cream and oil free layer formed after half an hour, two hours, and 24.5 hours. 6. When comparing the efficiency of emulsification among other emulsifying formulations including Sumithion, Diazinox, sylian, and teleton, it was found that the four formulations met the specifications in terms of level of foam layer, but both of Sumthion and Diazinox were failed in stability test, where it formed a layer of cream exceeded the standard maximum after two hours. This problem did not appear in the sylian and teleton, where they were in accordance with standard specifications. 7. The results of eleven WP formulations (8 insecticides and fungicides chemically synthesized + 3 formulations for biopesticides prepared from Bacillus thingness bacteria) showed that six of the tested chemical pesticides successfully passed the suspensibility test as their attachment ratios were higher than the minimum attachment limits specified in the specifications. The remaining five pesticides (2 chemicals + 3 biopesticides) were not identical and their attachment ratios were below international standards. VI- Quality Control Procedures at Starchem Chemical Manufacturing Plant (Case study): Starchem Chemical Manufacturing Company produces pesticides alongside some other agrochemicals. It is one of the companies that declare its commitment to applying local and international standards and specifications for its products through quality management system, occupational safety and health and environmental management system. Tests of the physico-chemical properties of the current products were done in the internal laboratory, which equipped with the capabilities and necessary supplies to analyze such properties for random samples of the products in all its operation. Quality tests were conducted for some of these products following the standard methods of the World Health Organization, the results obtained indicate the following: 1- Results of emulsion stability test of two EC formulations (Sicon 10% for lamba cyhalothrin, Tak 48% clorpyrifos) showed that both had given a level of foam below the permissible limits and that the cream layer was not formed after half an hour but started to appear after two hours and was below the international maximum. Therefore, samples have been proven in accordance with the standard specifications. 2. The suspensibility, wettability and foam formation tests were carried out for two products (i.e .Starcopper 50% copper oxycholor, Chipco 50% iprodione) and the wettability was 8 sec and 25 sec for Starcoopr and Chipco respectively while the foam level was 5 and 5.5 cm for Starcopper and Chipco , respectively, indicating that the samples conform to international standards. 3. The results showed that the samples were identical in terms of suspensibility ratios, with 80.35% and 87.46% for Starcopper and Chipco, respectively. 4. The results of the suspensibility, spontaniety and pourability tests of a SC product (Coach 20% fibronil) showed that the pesticide complies with international standards in terms of suspensibility ratio of 93.7%, as well as, the properties of spontaniety and the pourability of the product. |