Pesticide Environmental Risk Assessments

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecotoxicology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 19231

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Agriculture and Environment Research Unit, University of Hertfordshire, Department of Biology and Environment Science, Hatfield, UK
Interests: environmental impacts of agriculture & land use; agri-environmental management; agriculture and climate change; fate and toxicity of agricultural chemicals; agricultural risk assessment and regulation. agri-environmental management; agricultural risk assessment and regulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Agriculture & Environment Research Unit, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB, UK
Interests: agricultural risk assessments; agricultural pollution mitigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With around 40% of global food production lost to pests and diseases each year even with the use of chemical pesticides, it is obvious that crop protection chemicals are vital to ensuring a secure, stable supply of safe, quality food at affordable prices. However, the use of pesticides does come with a cost as they have the potential to damage environmental quality and impact negatively on biodiversity. Consequently assessments to evaluate the extent of the risk have an important role to play in ensuring effective regulatory, management and mitigation processes can be adopted. These assessments take many different formats depending on their objective, scale and end user. They can be highly complex and sophisticated mathematical models for use by regulators or simple decision aides for use in the field. They can address just one issue, such as water quality or the protection of pollinators, or they can be multi-issue. They can be undertaken at farm, regional or national scale. All have their place in the risk assessment arena.

This special journal issue will focus on studies and processes that describe advances in pesticide environmental risk assessment. Topics covered are broad, but will include: (i) methodological approaches, theory and principles; (ii) risk characterization; (iii) case studies such as those that demonstrate an effective use of a novel approach; (iv) risk policy, standards and legislation; (v) risk management and mitigation; and (vi) environmental risk perception and communication.

Prof. Dr. Kathleen Lewis
Dr. John Tzilivakis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Pesticide risk
  • Environmental quality
  • Pesticide toxicity
  • Pesticide impact
  • Pesticide pollution
  • Environmental pollution
  • Crop protection
  • Pesticide regulation
  • Agricultural pollution
  • Environmental risk assessment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1802 KiB  
Article
Degradation of Organophosphorus and Pyrethroid Insecticides in Beverages: Implications for Risk Assessment
by Samantha A. Radford, Parinya Panuwet, Ronald E. Hunter Jr., Dana Boyd Barr and P. Barry Ryan
Toxics 2018, 6(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics6010011 - 2 Feb 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5619
Abstract
Since urinary insecticide metabolites are commonly used as biomarkers of exposure, it is important that we quantify whether insecticides degrade in food and beverages in order to better perform risk assessment. This study was designed to quantify degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides [...] Read more.
Since urinary insecticide metabolites are commonly used as biomarkers of exposure, it is important that we quantify whether insecticides degrade in food and beverages in order to better perform risk assessment. This study was designed to quantify degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides in beverages. Purified water, white grape juice, orange juice, and red wine were fortified with 500 ng/mL diazinon, malathion, chlorpyrifos, permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin, and aliquots were extracted several times over a 15-day storage period at 2.5 °C. Overall, statistically significant loss of at least one insecticide was observed in each matrix, and at least five out of seven insecticides demonstrated a statistically significant loss in all matrices except orange juice. An investigation of an alternative mechanism of insecticide loss—adsorption onto the glass surface of the storage jars—was carried out, which indicated that this mechanism of loss is insignificant. Results of this work suggest that insecticides degrade in these beverages, and this degradation may lead to pre-existing insecticide degradates in the beverages, suggesting that caution should be exercised when using urinary insecticide metabolites to assess exposure and risk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pesticide Environmental Risk Assessments)
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994 KiB  
Article
The Fate of Glyphosate and AMPA in a Freshwater Endorheic Basin: An Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment
by Rocío Inés Bonansea, Iohanna Filippi, Daniel Alberto Wunderlin, Damián José Gabriel Marino and María Valeria Amé
Toxics 2018, 6(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics6010003 - 21 Dec 2017
Cited by 76 | Viewed by 7555
Abstract
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide. However, there are some uncertain aspects with respect to its environmental fate. To evaluate the existence and distribution of this pesticide and its metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), their presence in fresh water, sediment, and suspended [...] Read more.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide. However, there are some uncertain aspects with respect to its environmental fate. To evaluate the existence and distribution of this pesticide and its metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), their presence in fresh water, sediment, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) was measured in samples collected in a river running across a large city and through areas with intensive and extensive agriculture. The aquatic risk associated to the occurrence of these compounds was estimated using the hazard quotient (HQ) calculation for water and sediment. From the analyzed samples, overall 35% contained glyphosate, AMPA, or both compounds. Concentrations of the analytes were spread in different percentages depending on the environmental matrices considered, with levels ranging from 12 to 20 times higher for glyphosate and AMPA in sediment and SPM, as compared with the levels found in water. The most polluted area was situated within a green belt zone of the city; while in second place were sites located in areas of extensive agriculture. Aquatic organisms inhabiting areas both inside and outside agricultural areas are threatened by water glyphosate concentrations. Benthic organisms inside the greenbelt zone and inside the lower basin are threatened by the concentrations of glyphosate in sediment. Even when the concentrations measured in water were below the levels of concern for wildlife, results showed the risk of agricultural practices to aquatic biota. An update of the limits established for freshwater biota protection is needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pesticide Environmental Risk Assessments)
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1400 KiB  
Article
Zinc Ameliorate Oxidative Stress and Hormonal Disturbance Induced by Methomyl, Abamectin, and Their Mixture in Male Rats
by Sameeh A. Mansour, Mostafa A. Abbassy and Hassan A. Shaldam
Toxics 2017, 5(4), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5040037 - 3 Dec 2017
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5146
Abstract
Exposure to mixtures of toxicants (e.g., pesticides) is common in real life and a subject of current concern. The present investigation was undertaken to assess some toxicological effects in male rats following exposure to methomyl (MET), abamectin (ABM), and their combination (MET+ABM), and [...] Read more.
Exposure to mixtures of toxicants (e.g., pesticides) is common in real life and a subject of current concern. The present investigation was undertaken to assess some toxicological effects in male rats following exposure to methomyl (MET), abamectin (ABM), and their combination (MET+ABM), and to evaluate the ameliorative effect of zinc co-administration. Three groups of rats were designated for MET, ABM, and the mixture treatments. Three other groups were designated for zinc in conjunction with the pesticides. Additionally, one group received water only (control), and the other represented a positive zinc treatment. The obtained results revealed that MET was acutely more toxic than ABM. The tested pesticides induced significant elevation in lipid peroxidation and catalase levels, while declined the levels of the other tested parameters e.g., Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Glutathione reductase (GR), Cytochrome P450 (CYP450), testosterone, and thyroxine). Biochemical alterations induced by the mixture were greater than those recorded for each of the individual insecticides. The joint action analysis, based on the obtained biochemical data, revealed the dominance of antagonistic action among MET and ABM. Zinc supplementation achieved noticeable ameliorative effects. It was concluded that zinc may act as a powerful antioxidant, especially in individuals who are occupationally exposed daily to low doses of such pesticides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pesticide Environmental Risk Assessments)
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