OlivesR Documentation

Fenthion in Olive Oil

Description

Measurements of the pesticide fenthion in olive oil over time

Format

A dataset with 18 observations on the following 7 variables.

SampleNumber Code (1-6) for sample of olive oil
Group Code for group: 1 or 2
Day Time (in days) when sample was measured: 0, 281, or 365
Fenthion Amount of fenthion (pesticide)
FenthionSulphoxide Amount of fenthion sulfide
FenthionSulphone Amount of fenthion sulphone
Time Code (0, 3, or 4) for the number of days

Details

Fenthion is a pesticide used against the olive fruit fly in olive groves. It is toxic to humans so it is important that there be no residue left on the fruit or in olive oil that will be consumed. One theory was that if there is residue of the pesticide left in the olive oil, it would dissipate over time. Chemists set out to test that theory by taking a random sample of small amounts of olive oil with fenthion residue and measuring the amount of fenthion in the oil at three different times over the year - day 0, day 281 and day 365.

Source

Data provided by Rosemary Roberts and discussed in "Persistence of fenthion residues in olive oil" by Chaido Lentza-Rizos, Elizabeth J. Avramides, and Rosemary A. Roberts in Pest Management Science, Vol. 40, Issue 1, Jan. 1994, pp. 63-69.