Continuing our Europe themed news stories ALS Environmental would like to offer a brief insight into Pesticides analysis in Prague in the Czech Republic.

Pesticides are substances intended for preventing, destroying, suppressing, repelling or controlling undesirable microorganisms, plants and animals during the production, storage, transport, distribution and processing of food and agricultural commodities.

To find out more about Pesticide Analysis at ALS, see our technical brochure

The active substance of pesticides are formulated into commercial products called plant protection products. A commercial product is a physical mixture of one or more biologically active substances with different inert ingredients that help to acheive effective application, economical dosing and safe use.

Possible classifications of pesticides are as follows:

• Carbamates
• Triazines
• Pyrethroids
• Organophosphates
• Organochlorines
• Phenoxyalkane pesticides
• Pesticides based on glyphosate

Pesticides can be the main sources of pollution in ecosystems when used on agricultural fields, forests and in water management, public health and hygiene. It is estimated that only 65% of the plant protection product used in spray form hits the leaf area, 25% gets into the soil and 10% is evaporated into the atmosphere. This can mean that the pesticide used can travel long distances into areas where they were not applied. 

ALS Czech Republic provides analysis on:

Click here to see our datasheet on Pesticides in water

The residues present in these matrices can not only be toxic originally but can also be precursors to other toxic compounds when mixed. Also degradation of these pesticides can give rise to more toxic metabolites. The laboratory in Prague also offers assessment of these metabolites and can determine whether they are relevant or irrelevant.  

ALS Prague utilise LC/MS/MS, GC/MS, GC/MS/MS and GC/ECD technology to provide your results and can identify and determine approximately 400 pesticides. 

ALS Environmental has a long experience in the analysis of pesticides for various projects, ranging from very clear water intended for human consumption to very contaminated samples from pesticides production plan remediation. 

If you would like to know more about pesticide testing, to request a quotation or for any other enquiries, please contact us or call the Customer Services Team on 02476 421 213.