Pesticide Residues in French Soils: Occurrence, Risks, and Persistence
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
Environmental Science and Technology. 2023-05-12, vol. 57, n° 20, p. 7818-7827
English Abstract
Contamination of the environment by pesticide residues is a growing concern given their widespread presence in the environment and their effects on ecosystems. Only a few studies have addressed the occurrence of pesticides ...Read more >
Contamination of the environment by pesticide residues is a growing concern given their widespread presence in the environment and their effects on ecosystems. Only a few studies have addressed the occurrence of pesticides in soils, and their results highlighted the need for further research on the persistence and risks induced by those substances. We monitored 111 pesticide residues (48 fungicides, 36 herbicides, 25 insecticides and/or acaricides, and two safeners) in 47 soils sampled across France under various land uses (arable lands, vineyards, orchards, forests, grasslands, and brownfields). Pesticides were found in 98% of the sites (46 of the 47 sampled), including untreated areas such as organic fields, forests, grasslands, and brownfields, with up to 33 different substances detected in one sample, mostly fungicides and herbicides. The concentrations of herbicides were the highest in soils with glyphosate, and its transformation product, AMPA, contributed 70% of the cumulative herbicides. Risk assessment underlined a moderate to high risk for earthworms in arable soils mostly attributed to insecticides and/or acaricides. Finally, the comparison with pesticide application by farmers underlines the presence of some residues long after their supposed 90% degradation and at concentrations higher than predicted environmental concentrations, leading to questions their real persistence in soils.Read less <
English Keywords
Herbicides
Fungicides
Insecticides
Soil monitoring
Contamination
Glyphosate
Earthworms
Persistence