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This project aims to develop immunodiagnostic tools for the detection of urinary metabolites of mixtures of pesticides and relevant veterinary residues to be used as indicators of what pesticides people have been exposed to.
<p>Chemicals of concern, identified by COT and the FSA, include dicarboximide, conazole and benzimidazole fungicides, as well as pyrethroid insecticides.
<p>The project aims to develop immunodiagnostic tools for the detection of urinary metabolites from a range of these pesticides.
<p>The resulting monoclonal antibodies will be characterised in terms of specificity and sensitivity and diagnostic immunoassays developed.
In its report on Risk Assessment of Mixtures of Pesticides and Similar Substances, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) recommended that methods be developed to provide valid and cost-effective biomarkers or other robust indicators of population exposure and body burdens of mixtures of pesticides and relevant veterinary residues.
<p>Tools to monitor exposure to pesticides would need to be cost effective and sensitive in order to allow large numbers of tests and the detection of exposure to low levels of chemicals. Immunoassays fulfil these criteria.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.