Mineral oil residues in soil and apple under temperate conditions of Kashmir, India.

The study was undertaken to ascertain the persistence of Orchol-13, a mineral oil used against insect pests of horticultural fruit crops in soil and apple following the dormant and summer applications of 2 and 0.75% respectively. Soil samples were collected during dormant, while as both soil and apple samples were collected during summer season. Samples were collected at 0, 1, 3, and 5 days post treatment in both the seasons. Average recoveries of paraffinic constituents (which constitute about 60% of mineral oils by composition) from soil and apple at 1 μg ml-1 spiking level were found to be 74.18 and 76.81% respectively. The final quantification of paraffinic constituents was performed on gas chromatograph equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). No paraffinic constituents of mineral oil could be detected in soil and apple at 0 day post treatment in both the seasons.