Comprehensive pesticide analysis with high-resolution mass spectrometry

Insects, fungi, weeds and other pests have been the blight of food production since farming began in the fertile crescent 12,000 years ago. The loss of food production caused by these various pests is immeasurably large and the effects have been seen throughout history, such as the 1845 European potato blight, where the water mould Phytophthora infestans, first detected in Belgium, triggered catastrophic famine in Ireland.