Commentaar Vrouwenpartij: oplettende lezertjes weten dat wij al lang onze kaarten hebben gezet op de ontwikkeling van sensors.
Eén van de gebieden die door sensors getransformeerd kan worden is die van voedsel veiligheid. Een voorbeeld is de sensor, die recent ontwikkeld is, om pesticide bestrijdingsmiddelen te detecteren op groente en fruit. Welke moeder wil niet weten of de groente en het fruit wat ze koopt veilig is voor haar kinderen?
De genoemde sensor is bovendien biologisch afbreekbaar.
Een scala aan sensors
De Vrouwenpartij heeft een apparaatje voor ogen met een scala aan sensors. Een sensor voor versheid, een sensor voor biologische oorsprong en gerelateerd een sensor voor landbouwvergiften, een sensor voor voedingswaarden, een sensor voor koolhydraten, een sensor voor pinda’s, voor lactose, voor gluten, voor E-nummers enz.
Een apparaatje dat alle gegevens (en meer) kan weergeven, wat we nu van het etiket moeten lezen. Misschien nu nog wat duur om te ontwikkelen, maar de markt is alleen al in Nederland een paar miljoen groot. Bedenk ook dat verzekeringsmaatschappijen er veel voor over zullen hebben als hun cliënten gezonder en veiliger kunnen gaan leven door het gebruik van zo’n sensor-apparaatje.
De impact op de voedingsmarkt zal fenomenaal zijn en als gevolg ook het effect op de gezondheid van onze kinderen en onszelf.
Het oude adagium meten=weten is hier als nergens zo van toepassing.
Lees hier het artikel: This biodegradable sensor can tell if your food is safe from pesticides
Bron: interestingengineering.com
Rizwan Choudhury
February 3, 2024
This biodegradable sensor can tell if your food is safe from pesticides
This biodegradable sensor can tell if your food is safe from pesticides
The device could help ensure food safety in a world that faces
food scarcity and health issues due to the excessive use of agrochemicals.
Electrochemical sensors can combine affordability, rapid detection, miniaturization, convenience, easy of use, high selectivity and in situ pesticide detection.
Brazilian researchers have created a sensor that can be attached to the skin of fruits and vegetables to check for harmful pesticides. The sensor is made of cellulose acetate, a plant-based material that is biodegradable and eco-friendly.
The device could help ensure food safety in a world that faces food scarcity and health issues due to the excessive use of agrochemicals.
The study was published in the journal Biomaterials Advances.
A better alternative
Pesticides are commonly used to increase crop production and are usually sprayed on the plants, but only half of them reach their intended target. The rest end up in the soil, water, and food, posing a risk to human health through skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion.
The current methods to monitor pesticide levels are based on accurate chromatographic techniques, which have several limitations, such as the need for sample preparation, costly equipment, skilled personnel, long analysis time, and lack of mobility. The toxic waste generated by organic solvents is also an environmental concern.
“Our invention offers a better alternative. It is an electrochemical sensor that combines low cost, fast detection, small size, easy production, user-friendliness, high selectivity, and on-site pesticide detection. It can be directly applied to the surface of fruits, vegetables, or leaves. That’s why we call it plant-wearable,” said Paulo Augusto Raymundo-Pereira, the lead author of the paper and a researcher at the São Carlos Physics Institute (IFSC-USP).
“Unlike the conventional materials, which are derived from petroleum and take a long time to decompose, we used cellulose acetate, which comes from plants and has minimal environmental impact. It can completely degrade in less than a year, depending on the local conditions. Of course, it also has the necessary features for any sensor, such as portability and flexibility.”
The researchers produced the cellulose acetate substrate by a casting method, in which they shaped the material in a mold and then printed the three electrodes of the electrochemical system on it.
Real-world test
The researchers tested the sensor in a laboratory setting, spraying a solution of carbendazim, a fungicide, and paraquat, a herbicide, on lettuce and tomatoes. Paraquat has been banned in the European Union since 2003 because of its negative effects on humans, but it is still used in Brazil. The sensor was then placed on the lettuce and tomatoes, and the results showed a similar level of detection as the ones obtained with polyethylene terephthalate, the most common sensor material.
The researchers also examined the effectiveness of washing and soaking the vegetables in water for two hours to remove the pesticide residues. They found that only 40% of the carbendazim and 60% of the paraquat were removed from the lettuce and 64% from the tomatoes.
“The washing and soaking methods were clearly not enough to eliminate the pesticide residues. At least 10% remained on the peel or the leaves,” Raymundo-Pereira said.
The sensor could be useful for health authorities worldwide and for organic farmers and sellers to verify the absence of pesticides on their products.
Farmers can monitor pesticide levels in their fields, ensuring the appropriate amount is applied to each crop or section of a plantation. This can lead to reduced pesticide use while maintaining high yields, ultimately resulting in lower prices for consumers.
