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Residual mercury content of seed potatoes treated with organo‐mercury disinfectant solutions
Author(s) -
Hamilton G. A.,
Ruthven A. D.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740181202
Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , disinfectant , fungicide , chemistry , flesh , horticulture , food science , toxicology , biology , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
Before export from Scotland, certain seed potatoes are mechanically washed and then dipped in organo‐mercury fungicide solutions to control tuber‐borne diseases. During transit and after receipt, these potatoes may be accidentally eaten by humans or animals, and the work reported here was done to find out whether the mercury residues reach a level likely to constitute a toxic hazard. Analyses were carried out on both cooked and uncooked whole potatoes, and on the peel and the flesh. The potatoes were stored and analysed at intervals over a period of time comparable with the time taken during export. The effect of haulm destruction on the subsequent uptake of the disinfectant was investigated. Also included are analyses of tubers which were dipped in organo‐mercury solutions after being washed over different types of rollers in a commercial machine. The results indicated that the levels of mercury present would make treated potatoes unacceptable for consumption. However, potatoes grown from treated seed were found to contain very small amounts of mercury, which were no greater than untreated control material, and which were of no toxicological significance.