Abstract
Pesticide environmental fate and toxicity depends on its physical and chemical features, the soil composition, soil adsorption, as well as residues that may be found in different soil slots. Indeed, pesticide degradation in soil may be influenced by either biotic or abiotic factors. In addition, the toxicity of pesticides for living organisms depends on their adsorption, distribution, biotransformation, dissemination of metabolites together with interaction with cellular macromolecules and excretion. Biotransformation may result in the formation of less toxic and/or more toxic metabolites, while other processes determine the balance between toxic and a nontoxic upcoming. Aggregate exposure and risk assessment involve multiple pathways and routes, including the potential for pesticide residues in food and drinking water, in addition to residues from pesticide use in residential and non-occupational environments. Therefore, this work will focus on the development of a decision support system to assess the environmental and toxicological risk to pesticide exposure, built on top of a Logic Programming approach to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, complemented with a Case Based attitude to computing. The proposed solution is unique in itself, once it caters for the explicit treatment of incomplete, unknown, or even self-contradictory information, either in terms of a qualitative or quantitative setting.
Highlights
The use of agricultural pesticides is mounting nowadays, aiming at the control of insect pests and diseases
This work will focus on the development of a decision support system to assess the environmental and toxicological risk to pesticide exposure, built on top of a Logic Programming approach to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, complemented with a Case Based attitude to computing
Many approaches to Knowledge Representation and Reasoning have been proposed using the Logic Programming (LP) epitome, namely in the area of Model Theory [11, 12] and Proof Theory [13, 14]
Summary
The use of agricultural pesticides is mounting nowadays, aiming at the control of insect pests and diseases. Pesticide sprays may directly hit non-target vegetation, or may drift or volatilize from the treated area and contaminate air, surface, ground water, soil, and non-target plants. They can be moved from soil by runoff and leaching, thereby constituting a potential problem for the supply of drinking water to the inhabitants [1]. Other physic-chemical factors such as light, volatility, pH, temperature, soil moisture and organic carbon content, adsorption to sediment particles and lixiviation can influence the degradation of a pesticide and the exposure pathway [2]. The proposed solution is unique in itself, once it caters for the explicit treatment of incomplete, unknown, or even self-contradictory information, either in terms of a qualitative or quantitative setting
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call