Progress 01/01/21 to 12/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Government, industrial and academic scientists who would like to have a better understanding of the persistence behaviors pesticides and the impact of adjuvants on their persistence. Consumers, farmers, and industries who are interested in reducing pesticide residues from fresh produce. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and scholars received training to conduct experiment and write scientific papers. They were also suppored to travel to conferences to present their research findings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were disseminated through publications and conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Investigating the Impact of Adjuvants on Pesticide Persistence: The study demonstrated that adjuvants significantly influence pesticide behavior on produce. Non-ionic surfactants (APEOs) increased persistence and penetration of systemic pesticides like thiabendazole in apples and spinach but had little effect on non-systemic pesticides like phosmet. Similarly, crop oil concentrate (COC) enhanced systemic carbaryl penetration in apples without affecting non-systemic thiram. These findings provide critical insights for optimizing pesticide formulations and application methods to minimize residues. Optimizing Baking Soda-Based Washing Strategy: A novel, effective green washing method using household ingredients, such as corn starch and baking soda, was developed to significantly reduce pesticide residues. The optimized protocol removed over 91% of thiabendazole residues, with or without the presence of a surfactant. This strategy outperformed some commercial products while being safe, accessible, and practical for consumers. Validating the Washing Strategy Across Fresh Produce: The washing protocol was validated on multiple fruits, including apples, grapes, lemons, and strawberries, using advanced analysis methods like LC-MS/MS and SERS. Results confirmed high efficacy (up to 95% residue removal) regardless of surfactant presence, highlighting its versatility and practicality for ensuring food safety across various types of fresh produce.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Gao, W., Du, X., Gao, Z., Dai, H., Liu, D., Doherty, J., ... & He, L. (2024). Surface dissipation and foliar penetration of acetamiprid on tea leaves in the presence or absence of adjuvants. LWT, 205, 116536.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Xinyi Du, Lili He (advisor). Impact of Adjuvants on Pesticide Persistence and Strategies to Reduce Residues in Produce. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Master thesis. PhD Dissertation.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Du, Xinyi, Lauren Ho, Sisheng Li, Jeffery Doherty, Junghak Lee, John M. Clark, and Lili He. "Efficacy of Household and Commercial Washing Agents in Removing the Pesticide Thiabendazole Residues from Fruits." Foods 14, no. 2 (2025): 318.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Du, Xinyi, Jeffery Doherty, Junghak Lee, John Marshall Clark, and Lili He. "Assessment of the effect of non-ionic surfactant alkylphenol ethoxylates on the penetration of pesticides in fresh produce." Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy (2024): 125691.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Du, Xinyi, Jeffery Doherty, Junghak Lee, John M. Clark, and Lili He. "Investigating the Impact of Crop Oil Concentrate on the Persistence and Penetration of Pesticides Applied on Apples." ACS Agricultural Science & Technology (2025).
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Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Government, industrial and academic scientists who would like to have a better understanding of the persistence behaviors pesticides and the impact of adjuvants on their persistence. Consumers, farmers, and industries who are interested in reducing pesticide residues from fresh produce. Changes/Problems:No cost extension due to delay by COVID What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and scholars received training to conduct experiment and write scientific papers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were disseminated through publications and conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue evaluating the best household product(s) toreducepersistent pesticide residues on produce surfaces, and compare with commerical produce washing products.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Adjuvants can enhance the performance of the pesticide active ingredients in many ways including decreasing surface tension and reducing evaporation. Understanding how adjuvants effect pesticide behavior (e.g. surface persistence) is crucial for developing effective pesticide formulations, as well as facilitating the development of effective approaches to reducepesticide residues from the surface of fresh produce post-harvest. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of non-ionic surfactants, e.g. Alligare andSurf-Ac 910, on the persistence of two model pesticides, thiabendazole and phosmet on apple surfaces. Take Surf-Ac 910 as an example, the result shows that the addition of Surf-Ac 910 increased both the maximum wetted area and evaporation rate of thiabendazole, a systemic pesticide, and phosmet, a non-systemic pesticide. Utilizing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to explore the surface and penetrative behaviors of thiabendazole and phosmet revealed that the addition of Surf-Ac 910 influenced the SERS signal of pesticides as well. The addition of Surf-Ac 910 decreased the Raman signal intensity when added to phosmet but did not affect the Raman signal intensity when added to thiabendazole. In terms of penetration, the addition of Surf-Ac 910 did not affect the penetration depth of phosmet but slightly increased the penetration depth of thiabendazole. Common household materials, such as baking soda, were effective at removing surface pesticide residues. After testing a variety of baking soda concentrations and starch granules, 2% baking soda and 2% corn starch were found to be the most effective baking soda concentration and starch granule respectively. 2% corn starch was the most effective removal method overall, with 99% of pesticide with/without adjuvant removed in just 5 minutes of wash time. Overall, this study demonstrated that although adjuvant Surf-Ac 910 could affect the surface persistence of pesticides, washing with common household materials such as 2% corn starch can be used as an effective, safe, and economic way to reduce pesticide exposure through fresh produce.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Du, X., Gao, Z., Yang, T., Qu, Y., & He, L. (2023). Understanding the impact of a non-ionic surfactant alkylphenol ethoxylate on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic analysis of pesticides on apple surfaces. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 301, 122954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2023.122954
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Daniel Barnes, Lili He (advisor). The Impact of a Non-ionic Adjuvant to the Persistence of Pesticides on Produce Surfaces. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Master thesis.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Du, X., Gao, Z., & He, L. (2023).Quantifying the effect of non?ionic surfactant alkylphenol ethoxylates on the persistence of thiabendazole on fresh produce surface. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.13147
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Progress 01/01/22 to 12/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Government, industrial and academic scientists who would like to have a better understanding of the persistence behaviorspesticides and the impact of adjuvants on their persistence. Consumers, farmers, and industries who are interested in reducingpesticide residues from fresh produce. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and scholars received training to conduct experiment and writescientific papers. They were also suppored to travel to conferences to present their research findings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were disseminated through publications and conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We willoptimize the effectiveness of the baking soda-based washing strategy in combination with other common household products (i.e. corn starch, rice starch, wheat flour) in reducing persistent pesticide residues on apple surfaces.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The widespread use of pesticides in agriculture has led to increased social concern about the potentialhazards of pesticide residues on and in food. Therefore, it is significant to monitor and control theseresidues on and in food. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of different commercialadjuvant products, including non-ionic surfactant, oil, acidifier and buffer, on the persistency ofpesticide active ingredients (AI) applied on fresh produce. Two model pesticide AI,thiabendazole (systemic) and phosmet (non-systemic), and two model fresh produce (spinach andapple) were tested. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) mapping was used to analyze the presence and distribution of pesticide AI with and without adjuvants on and in fresh produce in situ andreal time. The results demonstrated that non-ionic surfactants we tested in this study improved the spreadingof pesticide AI on produce surfaces and the penetration of systemic pesticides into plant tissues. This resulted in more pesticide residues in fresh produce after long term exposure and the difficulty to remove residues through washing. The influence of non-inonic surfactants to the penetration of non-systemic pesticides was minor.Compared with apples and spinach leaves, pesticide residues on apple surface was more difficult to remove.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Wang, D., Du, X., & He, L. (2022). Investigation of the Impact of a Pesticide Adjuvant on Dimethoate Persistence, Penetration, and Stability on Apples Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. ACS Agricultural Science & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsagscitech.2c00092
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Xinyi Du and Lili He. (invited talk). Understanding the impact of adjuvants on pesticide persistence and penetration in fresh produce using surface-enhanced Raman mapping. 2022 SciX meeting. October 2-7 Kentucky.
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Progress 01/01/21 to 12/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Government, industrial and academic scientists who would like to have a better understanding of the persistence behaviorspesticides and the impact of adjuvants on their persistence. Consumers, farmers, and industries who are interested in reducingpesticide residues from fresh produce. Changes/Problems:One postdoc left the lab after 4 months due to a family issue. I was able to hire another postdoc 6 months later. The progress was delayed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1 graduate student, 1 undergraduate student, and 1 postdoc were trained to conduct the experiment,present in lab meetings, and write manuscript. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One manuscript was submitted and currently under review. The PI attended the annual PD meeting and presented the research progress. The graduate studentsubmitted an abstract to American Chemical Sciety Conference in March 2022. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Future studies will focus on long term exposure (days), which is more complicated as it is associated with penetration and degradation. We will also test other adjuvants, pesticides, and fruits combinations. Then we will optimize and validate the baking soda-based washing strategy to reduce pesticide residues on fresh produce.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Pesticide residues on fresh produce are a food safety concern. Practically, pesticides are applied with adjuvants to enhance their functionality. However, the impact of adjuvants on pesticide persistence on fresh produce during washing is not well studied. The goal of this project is to investigate the impact of adjuvants on pesticide persistence and develop and validate an effective strategy to reduce pesticide residues on fresh produce. The main technique we used for this research is surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy which utilized gold nanoparticles as a probe to study pesticide chemical signatures and their distribution in plant tissues. During the 1st year of the project, we studied two commercial pesticide adjuvants, Alligare 90 (a non-ionic surfactant) and LI 700 (a mixture of an oil derivative, a non-ionic surfactant, and an acidifier), and tested 3 pesticides (thiabendazole, phosmet, and dimethoate) on apple and spinach, respectively. The results show neither Alligare 90 nor LI700 affected the SERS pattern of pesticides. After a short-term exposure (1 hour), neither of the adjuvants affected the efficacy of baking soda (1% ammonium bicarbonate) to remove surface pesticides. Thiabendazole on apple surfaces was the most difficult to remove among all test combinations.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Danhui Wang, Xinyi Du, and Lili He. Investigation of the impact of a pesticide adjuvant on dimethoate using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. 2022. Food.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Xinyi Du, Lili He. Investigate the impact of a non-ionic surfactant on pesticide persistence on fresh produce surface during baking soda washing using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. ACS spring conference. 2022
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