Concentration and movement of neonicotinoids as particulate matter downwind during agricultural practices using air samplers in southwestern Ontario, Canada.

Atmospheric emissions of neonicotinoid seed treatment insecticides as particulate matter in field crops occur mainly for two reasons: 1) due to abraded dust of treated seed generated during planting using vacuum planters, and 2) as a result of disturbances (tillage or wind events) in the surface of parental soils which release wind erodible soil-bound residues. In the present study, concentration and movement of neonicotinoids as particulate matter were quantified under real conditions using passive and active air samplers. Average neonicotinoid concentrations in Total Suspended Particulate (TSP) using passive samplers were 0.

Quantifying Neonicotinoid Insecticide Residues Escaping during Maize Planting with Vacuum Planters.

Neonicotinoid residues escaping in vacuum-planter exhaust during maize planting were measured in 25 fields in southwestern Ontario in 2013-2014 using filter bags to collect planter exhaust dust and horizontal and vertical sticky traps to collect planter operation-generated dust. Atrazine residues were used to differentiate between neonicotinoid residues originating from seed or from disturbed soil. Recovery rates of seed-applied neonicotinoids in exhaust were 0.

Neonicotinoid insecticide residues in soil dust and associated parent soil in fields with a history of seed treatment use on crops in southwestern Ontario.

Using neonicotinoid insecticides as seed treatments is a common practice in field crop production. Exposure of nontarget organisms to neonicotinoids present in various environmental matrices is debated. In the present study, concentrations of neonicotinoid residues were measured in the top 5 cm of soil and overlying soil surface dust before planting in 25 commercial fields with a history of neonicotinoid seed treatment use in southwestern Ontario in 2013 and 2014 using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.