About

Jeffery Doherty, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor and the Director of the Massachusetts Pesticide Analysis Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He serves as the Chief Chemist at the laboratory, where his research focuses on human exposure to pesticides and their fate and transport in the environment. His work involves studying how pesticides move through and persist in various environmental contexts, contributing to understanding their impact on human health and ecosystems.

Research topics

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Physiology
• Genetics
• Medicine
• Andrology
• Organic chemistry
• Food science
• Endocrinology
• Environmental chemistry
• Chromatography
• Ecology
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Investigating the Impact of Crop Oil Concentrate on the Persistence and Penetration of Pesticides Applied on Apples

  ACS Agricultural Science & Technology · 2025-01-08

  article

  The present study systemically investigated the influence of crop oil concentrate (COC) on the pesticide behavior on apples. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering was employed to monitor the persistence and penetration of carbaryl (a systemic insecticide) and thiram (a nonsystemic fungicide). The results revealed that COC significantly enhanced the penetration depth of carbaryl by 38.7% and increased the relative Raman intensity within plant tissue (Z = −120 μm) by 81.3% after 1-day exposure. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry confirmed that COC increased the internalized carbaryl residues by 176.6%. For thiram, COC reduced its persistence when exposed to NaHCO3 hydrolysis, decreasing removal efficiency by 38.96% after 1 day and 38.13% after 3 days, while not affecting its penetration profile. These findings highlight COC’s potential to enhance systemic pesticide penetration while facilitating the removal of surface residue, offering valuable insights for developing safer and more effective pesticide application strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Assessing the effect of a non-ionic surfactant on surface degradation of the pesticide Acetamiprid on live tea plants

  Food Research International · 2025-08-18 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Efficacy of Household and Commercial Washing Agents in Removing the Pesticide Thiabendazole Residues from Fruits

  Foods · 2025-01-18 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Pesticide residues on fruits pose a global food safety concern, emphasizing the need for effective and practical removal strategies to ensure safe consumption. This study investigates the efficacy of household ingredients (corn starch, all-purpose flour, rice flour and baking soda) and four commercial fresh produce wash products in eliminating a model pesticide thiabendazole with and without a model non-ionic surfactant Alligare 90® from postharvest fruits. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was employed for the rapid, in situ quantification of residue removal on apple surfaces. Soaking in 2% corn starch followed by soaking in 5% baking was the most effective homemade strategy, removing 94.13% and 91.78% of thiabendazole with and without the surfactant. Among commercial washing agents, soaking in 2% Product 4 demonstrated the highest efficiency, removing 95.3% and 95.99% of thiabendazole with and without surfactant. These results suggested that the non-ionic surfactant did not affect removal efficiency. Both protocols were effective across various fruits (apples, grapes, lemons, strawberries), validated by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses. However, safety concerns regarding the composition of Product 4 highlighted the benefits of homemade strategies. Overall, this work offers practical guidelines for reducing pesticide residues on fruits and enhancing food.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Maternal PFOS exposure affects offspring development in Nrf2-dependent and independent ways in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

  Aquatic Toxicology · 2024-04-12 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessment of the effect of non-ionic surfactant alkylphenol ethoxylates on the penetration of pesticides in fresh produce

  Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy · 2024-12-31 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of Dietary Fat and Oral Delivery System on Cannabigerol Pharmacokinetics in Adults

  Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research · 2024-04-04 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background and Aims: Cannabigerol (CBG) is a nonintoxicating cannabinoid synthesized in the Cannabis sativa plant that is incorporated into dietary supplements. This study investigated the influence of dietary fat and an emulsified delivery vehicle on CBG pharmacokinetics (PKs) after oral ingestion by adults. Materials and Methods: Consented participants were enrolled in a double-crossover pilot study and were blinded to the delivery vehicle type (isolate or emulsification) and isocaloric meal condition (low-fat=<5 g fat/meal or high-fat [HF]=>30 g fat/meal). The concentration of CBG in human plasma was measured after a single 25 mg dose of CBG using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). PK parameters were calculated using noncompartmental analysis. Results: The PKs of the two delivery systems (emulsified vs. non-emulsified) were significantly impacted by the HF meal condition. Participants in the HF meal group exhibited significantly higher area under the plasma concentration time curve from time 0 to last quantifiable value, maximum concentration, and terminal half-life. Participants in the HF meal group also had a significantly lower terminal elimination rate constant and time to maximum concentration ( T max ), in addition to decreased T max variation. The threshold for bioequivalence between conditions was not met. An exploratory aim correlated anthropometric measures and previous day's dietary intake on PK parameters which yielded inconsistent results across dietary fat conditions. Conclusions: In aggregate, dietary fat had a greater effect on CBG PKs than the emulsified delivery vehicle. This supports accounting for dietary intake in development of therapeutics and administration guidelines for orally delivered CBG.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Surface dissipation and foliar penetration of acetamiprid on tea leaves in the presence or absence of adjuvants

  LWT · 2024-07-22 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study is to investigate the surface dissipation and foliar penetration of acetamiprid following application to live tea plants in the presence and absence of two adjuvants (Alligare 90® and Peptoil®). SERS mapping protocol with a self-assembled AuNP mirror as substrates was utilized for in situ and real time pesticide analysis. The surface dissipation analysis showed that acetamiprid with Alligare 90® had the lowest dissipation rate (34%) compared to acetamiprid alone (60%) or with Peptoil® (44%), indicating the addition of Alligare 90® was more effective in reducing the surface dissipation of acetamiprid than Peptoil®. The study also investigated the foliar penetration of acetamiprid into tea leaves with and without adjuvants using SERS and LC-MS/MS. The study concludes that the two adjuvants tested can enhance spreadability, surface stability, and foliar penetration of acetamiprid applied on tea leaves. The information will facilitate the development and application of efficient and safe pesticide formulations.

  PublisherDOI

• Golfer Exposure to Traditional Pesticides Following Application to Turfgrass

  ACS Agricultural Science & Technology · 2024-03-14 · 2 citations

  article1st author

  The management of residential and golf course environments entails the use of pesticides and raises concerns about human exposure. Previous research demonstrated that exposure to some turfgrass pesticides is at a level that would concern risk assessors (Murphy K.C.; Cooper R.J.; and Clark J.M. Dislodgeable and volatile residues from insecticide-treated turfgrass. In, World Scientific Congress of Golf II. 1995). Using environmental monitoring, dosimetry, and biomonitoring, absorbed pesticide doses, as well as transfer and absorption dynamics, were determined following the play of golf, allowing an estimation of risk. The hands and lower legs received most of the dermal exposure, whereas airborne residues contributed little to exposure. The risk associated with pesticide exposure was determined by the hazard quotient (HQ) and margin of exposure (MOE) methods. HQs > 1.0 or MOEs < 100–300 give rise to a level of concern about possibly unsafe exposures. Dermal HQs ranged from ∼0.0001 (cyfluthrin with irrigation) to ∼0.006 (chlorothalonil without irrigation, 2,4-D, MCPP-p), while MOEs ranged from ∼160,000 (2,4-D) to 1,170,000 (cyfluthrin with irrigation), indicating limited concern from these exposures.

  PublisherDOI

• P03-076-23 The Effects of Dietary Fat and Emulsification on Cannabigerol Pharmacokinetics

  Current Developments in Nutrition · 2023-07-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The environmental fate of fungicides used to manage Magnaporthe poae, the causal agent of summer patch /

  Scholarworks (University of Massachusetts Amherst) · 2023-08-15

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Master of Science (M.S.)

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• J. Marshall Clark

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  16 shared

• Alicia R. Timme‐Laragy

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  5 shared

• Jonghwa Lee

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  5 shared

• Yeonhwa Park

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  4 shared

• Kate M. Annunziato

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  4 shared

• Wanjun Gao

  Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  4 shared

• Lili He

  4 shared

• Wenle Liang

  University of Massachusetts Amherst

  3 shared

Labs

• Jeffery Doherty's LabPI

  Not provided