Biopesticides - Does anybody know if there is any unsafe?

Hi everybody!

Well, I just wanted to ask if there is someone that has any experience or knowledge about the use of Biopesticides.

Obviously, I´m looking for a food safety pespective regarding the risk of using them. I have read that some are derived from microorganisms, so I´m wondering if there is any chance that this products can have a non intended performance, be contaminated by pathogenic strains when in use at the field or something like that.

Any light will be appreciated.

Regards,

FSSM

Hi everybody!

Well, I just wanted to ask if there is someone that has any experience or knowledge about the use of Biopesticides.

Obviously, I´m looking for a food safety pespective regarding the risk of using them. I have read that some are derived from microorganisms, so I´m wondering if there is any chance that this products can have a non intended performance, be contaminated by pathogenic strains when in use at the field or something like that.

Any light will be appreciated.

Regards,

FSSM

Does anyone have knolwedge of Biopesticides to share with FSSM?

Thanks,
Simon

Dear FSSM,

It always been a pleasure for me to ask Mr. Wiki about something that I didnt know. I hope Mr. Wiki's answer may satisfy you:
http://en.wikipedia....ki/Biopesticide

And it seems US government has advance knowledge regarding this matter. Check out this info from EPA site:
The definition of Biopesticide:
http://www.epa.gov/p...opesticides.htm
About the regulation:
http://www.epa.gov/p.../biopesticides/

And I found this PDF from googling activities:
http://www.eolss.net...E6-58-05-08.pdf

Hope that will help you.


Regards,


Arya

Dear FSSM,

An interesting topic and if you could elaborate more on your question as to if it is Bt you are referring to and the crops of your concern or the type of food industry you are referring to.

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) are used mailny as an insecticide and is considered muche safer and environmental friendly.
See the link http://en.wikipedia....s_thuringiensis

Dear FSSM,

Microbial pesticides consist of microorganisms ( fungus, bacteria,virus or protozoa) that have natural abilities to control plant diseases, weeds or kill specific insects. Hope the link below may be useful.

http://www.biopestic...opesticides.htm

Thank you all for your reply, I will try to get into the information everybody put down here.

I´m not working with any situation in particular, but I was wondering what if, for example, a Bacillus subtilis (or Bt also) biopesticide get contaminated during fermentation process with a pathogenic bacteria like Bacillus cereus, or any other during the application in any crop like fruits, corn, etc.

I know it is a difficult question, because there is no solid information to build into, but I would like to have a general point of view about this issue. It seems this technology is not new, has been arround for several years, and I´m not aware of a food outbreak (I already did some google search without results, but this doesn´t mean there haven´t been) because of the scenary mentioned before.

Does anybody here use crops as raw materials that have been treated with biopesticides?

Regards,

FSSM

Ok,

Thank you again for the information, I´m still reading...

Regards,

FSSM

I´m not working with any situation in particular, but I was wondering what if, for example, a Bacillus subtilis (or Bt also) biopesticide get contaminated during fermentation process with a pathogenic bacteria like Bacillus cereus, or any other during the application in any crop like fruits, corn, etc.

Regards,

FSSM

Dear FSSM,

I think the question is: "how come a biopesticide can get contaminated by other micro?"

I dont know about this matter, but my friend was taking deep research regarding Bt at college. Based on my (bad) memories about her research, Bt needs a specific environment to grow. So if there are another micros live among it, probably the Bt wont stand for sure.

Regards,

Arya

Hope this link may provide more insight into the studies done regarding the toxicity of Bt

http://npic.orst.edu...heets/BTgen.pdf

Dear Jean,

Thank you for your information, good source the factsheet!

Arya, maybe your friend can tell me if ther is any chance for Bacillus cereus or other bacteria, to contaminate at any step of the fermentation process, in a way that can´t be noticed and let it go through to crops.

Regards,

FSSM