The American Research organisation RTI International, who is executing the African Indoor Residential Spraying Program (IRS)against Malaria, has entered into a contract with AgriQ to analyse residues for the environmental fate effects of the IRS program.

 

In this project 15 countries participate in their fight against Malaria. The IRS project, initiated by the former President of the United States George W. Bush Jr., aims to prevent Malaria mosquitos from hatching by applying pesticides Indoors. With this technique it is expected to reduce the population of Malaria Mosquitos considerably within several years.

 

The project is carried out under the supervision of RTI International based in Nairobi Kenya.

 

AgriQ Quest the East African based AgriQ Laboratory has, in close collaboration with the Dutch AgriQ Laboratory, developed a specific analytical method that was able to analyse pesticide residues at the required levels for RTI in various matrices.

 

It has been a challenge to get ready for this products says Fredrick Muthuri, Director at AgriQ Quest in Nairobi; "The infrastructure for a GC MS had to be built up from scratch, pure water, gases and stable electricity are only a small part from the challenges we have faced. Also finding and training staff that now is able to perform the analyses at the required quality level has not always been easy. With the help from AgriQ in the netherlands we have succeeded and are now self supporting".

 

Next to IRS samples we are now also validating the standard and premium GC MS multimethod for Fruits and Vegetables.