Abstract
The application of agricultural pesticides in Africa can have negative effects on human health and the environment. The aim of this study was to identify African environments that are vulnerable to the accumulation of pesticides by mapping geospatial processes affecting pesticide fate. The study modelled processes associated with the environmental fate of agricultural pesticides using publicly available geospatial datasets. Key geospatial processes affecting the environmental fate of agricultural pesticides were selected after a review of pesticide fate models and maps for leaching, surface runoff, sedimentation, soil storage and filtering capacity, and volatilization were created. The potential and limitations of these maps are discussed. We then compiled a database of studies that measured pesticide residues in Africa. The database contains 10,076 observations, but only a limited number of observations remained when a standard dataset for one compound was extracted for validation. Despite the need for more in-situ data on pesticide residues and application, this study provides a first spatial overview of key processes affecting pesticide fate that can be used to identify areas potentially vulnerable to pesticide accumulation.
Highlights
The environmental fate of agricultural pesticides can have direct and indirect impacts on human health and the environment
This study focuses on the second of these factors; where will pesticides accumulate if they are sprayed in the environment? A continental analysis of the areas where the environment is vulnerable to pesticide accumulation is a first step in mapping the potential risk of pesticide application
To identify the areas that are most vulnerable to pesticide accumulation, this study aims to map processes associated with the environmental fate of agricultural pesticides using publicly available geospatial datasets
Summary
The environmental fate of agricultural pesticides can have direct and indirect impacts on human health and the environment. Human exposure to toxic levels of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) can result in spontaneous abortion by women [1], carbamate and organophosphate in the environment can result in biodiversity loss [2], and there is evidence that pesticide exposure can play a role in neurodegenerative conditions like dementia [3] and Parkinson’s disease [4]. Agricultural insecticides can drive the spread of resistance in non-target insects that are involved in the transmission of human diseases such as malaria and dengue [5,6]. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3523; doi:10.3390/ijerph16193523 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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