Review and development of the application of CIPC to stored potatoes and evaluation of environmental issues

In project 807/243 further work to determine the fate of CIPC applied to potato stores was carried out. This included more detailed studies of the levels of CIPC present in store air and wash water at different times throughout the season. The thermal breakdown of CIPC during the application process was also investigated and methods to reduce the loss of CIPC via this route were identified.

The potential for removing CIPC residues from store fabric or from treated tubers was also evaluated. None of the treatments tested were successful in removing CIPC from store fabric. Some of the treatments applied to tubers did remove more CIPC than water alone, but none were considered to be commercially viable.