FSES Advisory Council & Friends

Greetings,

Hard to believe the summer is already half over.  We have successfully completed several projects that have been featured in previous newsletters. Notably, we completed the herbicide residue trials for dimethenamid-p in pumpkin, the report was submitted to IR-4 headquarters in March, and they will be sending it on to US EPA (see below).  We have also added some new projects to our program, one of which is a bioavailable heavy metal study of soil amendments, sponsored by Oregon Department of Agriculture.  All in all  we find that we are always busy and there never seems to be a dull moment. Just the way we like it!  Best wishes to all for an enjoyable summer.  If you want to know more about any of the projects one place to start is at the following:

http://oregoninvests.css.orst.edu

internet site maintained by the College of Agriculture, also please feel free to contact me anytime.

~FSES Director

FOOD SAFETY

Food Quality Assurance

SUBMITTED TO US EPA

“Magnitude of Residue Studies for Dimethenamid-P on Winter Processing Squash”

Squash growers struggle to keep weeds from reducing squash yields and producing seeds that increase weed control costs in future crops. Project Goal: Provide residue data for IR-4 and US EPA to establish a tolerance and a regional label for dimethenamid-p in winter processing squash.  Samples were received fall of 2002, we developed a method, analyzed field treatments and ran a storage stability study.  The study report was prepared and submitted March 2003.  Project duration < 6 months.  This was great turn-around for projects of this nature!

Contact Information:

Food Safety & Environmental Stewardship Program

http://emt.oregonstate.edu/extension/index.htm#fses
FSES Program Director:
Kim A. Anderson
Department of Environmental & Molecular Toxicology
1007 Agricultural Life Sciences Bldg
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
541-737-8501
EMT Office 737-3791
FAX 541-737-0497

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Bioavailable

HEAVY METALS IN SOIL AMMENDMENTS & FERTILIZERS

Background levels of metals in Oregon soils that receive amendments and fertilizer treatments are not well understood.  The effects of these treatments on biota uptake and surface and ground waters for Oregon soils is not well understood.  We are currently working on a project funded by Oregon Dept. of Agriculture in order to gain insight into these questions. 

We are setting up 3 year studies at Hyslop, Columbia Basin, Malheur and Klamath Research Stations.  We will be making soil amendment applications and following the metals in soils, water and plants.  We will be testing and utilizing techniques which measure the bioavailable portion of the metal load.  The bioavailable concentration is more relevant to toxicity.  The data developed will provide for a better and more accurate evaluation of the risk associated with these amendments, as well as their environmental fate.

FOOD SAFETY

Development of Chemical Profiling Techniques to Determine Geographic Origin of Food

We are currently working on two geographic authenticity projects. One is focused on developing analytical chemical profiling techniques to determine if we can distinguish between Oregon fruit and South American and Mexican fruit. Angie Heater, OSU Toxicology Graduate student, is focusing part of her research on this project.

Commission to develop chemical profiling methods to distinguish between California and Middle East pistachios. Roger Adams, FSES faculty research assistant, is currently analyzing pistachios for trace metals.

Chemical Markers Detect Sub-Lethal Exposures to Herbicides

FOOD SAFETY

We continue to develop techniques for farmers to use for determining when there may be a sub-lethal exposure to herbicides. We have developed several chemical marker techniques one can be used for glyphosate and another for ASL inhibitor herbicides (e.g. sulfonlyureas).

Several researchers are now utilizing these techniques in their own work. We are also collaborating with Dr. D. Olszyk, US EPA, in a set of field trials that are designed for testing the lower limits of the sub-lethal exposures, and multiple herbicide exposures.

FSES Mission

The Food Safety and Environmental Stewardship Program at Oregon State University is a research program committed to providing the highest quality analytical laboratory research support for:

• food quality assurance,
• environmental integrity preservation, enhancement of agricultural production
• recognition and dissemination of new knowledge.

Bioavailable Contaminants- Willamette River

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

Newberg field sampling continues in spring/summer 2003

The Newberg area on the Willamette river has shown, for over a decade, a high prevalence of skeletal deformities in fish. The FSES program is part of a larger team of OSU investigators examining this problem.  We are focusing on water physical and chemical conditions.

Jennifer Schaeffer, Roger Adams and Gene Johnson,  pull-up about 80 lbs of sampling gear, during a deployment. We are measuring bioavailable organic contaminants and heavy metals in the Willamette river. Pictured below Roger is organizing some of  the gear after a sampling event on the river.

Food Safety & Environmental Stewardship Advisory Council

A 1-day Annual Meeting, was held February 13, 2003, at the North Willamette Research & Extension Center. The Poster Session was well received during breaks and sparked some great conversations and feedback. Also guest speakers Dr. Paul Jepson, OSU, Integrated Plant Protection Director and Dr. Vincent Herbert, WSU, Director of the Food & Environmental Quality Laboratory, presented their research at the meeting. A great day of information exchange for all involved.