Phytosanitary Irradiation

Phytosanitary treatments disinfest traded commodities of potential quarantine pests. Phytosanitary irradiation (PI) treatments use ionizing radiation to accomplish this, and, since their international commercial debut in 2004, the use of this technology has increased by ~10% annually. Generic PI treatments (one dose is used for a group of pests and/or commodities, although not all have been tested for efficacy) are used in virtually all commercial PI treatments, and new generic PI doses are proposed, such as 300 Gy, for all insects except pupae and adult Lepidoptera (moths). Fresh fruits and vegetables tolerate PI better than any other broadly used treatment. Advances that would help facilitate the use of PI include streamlining the approval process, making the technology more accessible to potential users, lowering doses and broadening their coverage, and solving potential issues related to factors that might affect efficacy.