Abstract
Unintended pesticide pollution in soil, crops, and adjacent environments has caused several issues for both pesticide users and consumers. For users, pesticides utilized should provide higher yield and lower persistence while considering both the environment and agricultural products. Most people are concerned that agricultural products expose humans to pesticides accumulating in vegetation. Thus, many countries have guidelines for assessing and managing pesticide pollution, for farming in diverse environments, as all life forms in soil are untargeted to these pesticides. The stable isotope approach has been a useful technique to find the source of organic matter in studies relating to aquatic ecology and environmental sciences since the 1980s. In this study, we discuss commonly used analytical methods using liquid and gas chromatography coupled with isotopic ratio mass spectrometry, as well as the advanced compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). CSIA applications are discussed for tracing organic pollutants and understanding chemical reactions (mechanisms) in natural environments. It shows great applicability for the issues on unintended pesticide pollution in several environments with the progress history of isotope application in agricultural and environmental studies. We also suggest future study directions based on the forensic applications of stable isotope analysis to trace pesticides in the environment and crops.
Highlights
In recent years, concerns about pollution have intensified with high human activity and the increasing use of various chemical products
Pesticides have been considered as principal contributors to agricultural production but have accounted for several toxic and metabolite side effects resulting from overuse [4]
Worldwide surveys have documented the toxic effects of these pesticides in humans as they remain in the soil and accumulate in crops, and these pesticides sometimes exceed stipulated health guidelines [12]
Summary
Concerns about pollution have intensified with high human activity and the increasing use of various chemical products. Since the 1970s, studies on the toxicity of pesticides and their effects on soil and aquatic ecosystems and human health have greatly expanded, and some persistent organic chemicals, including chlorinated pesticides, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and endosulfan have been phased out in the agricultural industry [8] These have been replaced by more biodegradable and less toxic chemicals, but contamination by legacy and recent residues still pose environmental and biological problems. Pesticides that are relatively ‘safer’ in terms of persistence or toxicity as substitutes are being used, consumers have concerns about the dose and risks because the most current pesticides affect non-target organisms in a variety of environments, including soils and aquatic systems [4] These problems cause toxicity, and impact the quality of water, soil, and food for humans, which might lead to health problems in ecosystems [10,13]. There is still the possibility that high concentrations of pesticides may inflow from outside to cause unintentional pollution
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