AGROLAB News

Pesticides are substances intended to prevent, destroy, repel or combat any pest, including unwanted species of plants or animals. This group includes herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and acaricides, among others. A wide variety are used worldwide, each with different properties and toxicological effects.

During the second half of the 20th century, the development and application of pesticides brought about a real revolution in agriculture, they are inexpensive and highly effective. However, despite the many benefits of the use of these substances, residues resulting from their use on food and feed crops can pose a risk to public health. For this reason, a comprehensive legislative framework has been established in the European Union defining the rules for the approval of active substances, the use of plant protection products and pesticide residues in foodstuffs.

Regulation (EC) 396/2005 sets maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in food and feed of plant and animal origin in the European Union. This Regulation directly affects public health and allows the proper functioning of the European internal market by setting common MRLs.

The AGROLAB laboratory in spain will support you

AGROLAB Ibérica laboratory in Burgos includes in its catalogue of accredited tests the multiresidue analysis by gas chromatography (GC-MS/MS) and liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS) of more than 500 pesticides in cereals and cereal products, pulses and cereal-based compound feed.

The use of these analytical techniques makes it possible to provide quantitative results for trace amounts of analytes in highly complex matrices. To this, we must add an extraction technique of high efficiency due to its ease, speed, low cost and great versatility, such as the QuEChERS methodology. This extraction technique together with GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS allows, in a simple way, multi-residue analysis in compliance with the legal requirements of the MRLs established for each of these active substances. 

You can consult our scope or contact our customer service for further information.

Authors: Itziar Miguel; Vanessa del Río