EESA10H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Listeria Monocytogenes, Genetically Modified Food, Escherichia Coli
Document Summary
Lecture 8 foodborne hazards and human health. Food production (use of chemicals: fertilizers, pesticides. Transmissible diseases: bacteria, escherichia coli, clostridium botulinum (botulism, salmonella, listeria monocytogenes (listeriosis) Non-transmissible diseases: shellfish-associated toxins, colour additives, obesity, diabetes. Extensive use of nitrate fertilizers: nitrites in groundwater. Direct human health effect: nitrites in water change hemoglobin to form that cannot carry oxygen, causes methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in young infants. Active ingredient: the one intended to kill the pest. Pest: not a biological category but a cultural one. Types of pesticides: insecticides, herbicides, fungicides: used in agriculture, rodenticides: often anticoagulant bait. Limitations of pesticides: resistance, some pests resistant (genetic makeup, resistant individuals survive and breed. Organochlorine insecticides: ddt, chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, neurotoxin; low acute human toxicity, persistent and bioaccumulative, many banned in more developed countries; stockholm convention. Organophosphate insecticides: neurotoxins; not persistent in environment, acute toxicity to people varies widely. Carbamate insecticides: chemical action similar to organophosphates, low acute toxicity to people.
