Pesticides are ubiquitous environmental pollutants negatively affecting ecosystem and human health. About 3 Tg of pesticides are used annually in agriculture to protect crops. How much of these pesticides remain on land and reach the aquifer or the ocean is uncertain. Monitoring their environmental fate is challenging, and a detailed picture of their mobility in time and space is largely missing. Here, we develop a process-based model accounting for the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the 92 most used agricultural pesticide active substances to assess their pathways through the principal catchments of the world and draw a near-present picture of the global land and river budgets, including discharge to oceans. Of the 0.94 Tg net annual pesticide input in 2015 used in this study, 82% is biologically degraded, 10% remains as residue in soil and 7.2% leaches below the root zone. Rivers receive 0.73 Gg of pesticides from their drainage at a rate of 10 to more than 100 kg yr km. By contrast to their fate in soil, only 1.1% of pesticides entering rivers are degraded along streams, exceeding safety levels (concentrations >1 μg l) in more than 13,000 km of river length, with 0.71 Gg of pesticide active ingredients released to oceans every year. Herbicides represent the prevalent pesticide residue on both land (72%) and river outlets (62%).
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06296-x | DOI Listing |
Viruses
December 2024
State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China.
(TYLCV) poses a significant threat to tomato production, leading to severe yield losses. The current control strategies primarily rely on the use of pesticides, which are often nonselective and costly. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify more environmentally friendly alternatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants (Basel)
January 2025
College of Agriculture, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong 030801, China.
The mung bean ( (Linn) Wilczek.) is a major grain crop in China, but its yield is significantly impacted by weeds. However, no pre-emergence herbicides are registered for mung bean fields in the China Pesticide Information Network.
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January 2025
Department of Biology, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Prešov, 17 Novembra 1, 08001 Prešov, Slovakia.
Weeds cause a decrease in the quantity and quality of agricultural production and economic damage to producers. The prolonged use of synthetic pesticides causes problems of environmental pollution, the possible alteration of agricultural products and problems for human health. For this reason, the scientific community's search for products of natural origin, which are biodegradable, safe for human health and can act as valid alternatives to traditional herbicides, is growing.
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January 2025
Department of Oriental Medicine Resources, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Republic of Korea.
There is a growing need for sustainable, efficient methods to promote plant growth and protect crops, with plant extracts offering natural, multi-component solutions. Based on previous observations, , , and were selected from 17 water extracts to investigate how the application times of soil sprays affect the antioxidant enzymes and secondary metabolites in fruity and leafy vegetables at different growth stages. From 1 week after sowing (WAS) to 4 WAS, all applications increased the shoot fresh weight by 42-69% in cucumbers, 40-64% in tomatoes, 46-65% in kale and 42-63% in lettuce.
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January 2025
Department of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, ETSIIAA, Universidad de Valladolid, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, Spain.
L. (cotton-lavender) is receiving increasing attention due to its potential for modern medicine and is considered both a functional food and nutraceutical. In this work, the phytochemical profile of its flower hydromethanolic extract was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and its applications as a biorational for crop protection were explored against spp.
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