Pesticide Pollution Research Articles

Investigation on Water Pollution Control of Drinking Water Source in China

Drinking water source is an important guarantee of domestic water for urban residents, which has been affected mainly by non-point pollution and aroused widespread concern in various countries. However, with the change of underlying surface types, there are significant differences in pollution control strategies. In this study, two pollution control strategies were proposed for two typical underlying surface conditions with high-density built-up water source and agricultural water source, respectively. It is considered that the high-density built-up area can be divided into ecological area and built-up area. The stormwater runoff from ecological area is intercepted and transferred to reservoir directly. But the stormwater runoff from built-up area are treated in three situations: rainfall less than 7 mm, rainfall greater than 7 mm and less than 50-year return period and rainfall greater than 50-year return period. Correspondingly, the intercepting ditch, embedded ecological reservoir, constructed wetland and deep tunnel are applied. Differently, for agricultural water source, the strategy of land right circulation can be taken to reduce domestic pollution and pesticide pollution. Further, the pollution load entering the reservoir is reduced by near-natural wetland, ecological isolation zone and floating debris interception. At the same time, with the help of superior natural resources, ecological industry can be developed to achieve balance of protection and development based on EOD. The research results can provide valuable reference for the treatment of non-point source pollution reservoirs.

Acute and chronic effects of sublethal neonicotinoid thiacloprid to Asian honey bee (Apis cerana cerana)

Pesticide pollution is one of the most important factors for global bee declines. Despite many studies have revealed that the most important Chinese indigenous species，Apis cerana, is presenting a high risk on exposure to neonicotinoids, the toxicology information on Apis cerana remain limited. This study was aimed to determine the acute and chronic toxic effects of thiacloprid (IUPAC name: {(2Z)-3-[(6-Chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-1,3-thiazolidin-2-ylidene}cyanamide) on behavioral and physiological performance as well as genome-wide transcriptome in A. cerana. We found the 1/5 LC50 of thiacloprid significantly impaired learning and memory abilities after both acute and chronic exposure, nevertheless, has no effects on the sucrose responsiveness and phototaxis climbing ability of A. cerana. Moreover, activities of detoxification enzyme P450 monooxygenases and CarE were increased by short-term exposure to thiacloprid, while prolonged exposure caused suppression of CarE activity. Neither acute nor chronic exposure to thiacloprid altered honey bee AChE activities. To further study the potential defense molecular mechanisms in Asian honey bee under pesticide stress, we analyzed the transcriptomes of honeybees in response to thiacloprid stress. The transcriptomic profiles revealed consistent upregulation of immune- and stress-related genes by both acute or chronic treatments. Our results suggest that the chronic exposure to thiacloprid produced greater toxic effects than a single administration to A. cerana. Altogether, our study deepens the understanding of the toxicological characteristic of A. cerana against thiacloprid, and could be used to further investigate the complex molecular mechanisms in Asian honey bee under pesticide stress.

Individual Risk Assessment for Population Living on the Territories Long-Term Polluted by Organochlorine Pesticides

The long-term storage of unutilized pesticides raised new problems of long-term environmental contamination. The study presents the results of surveying 151 individuals in 7 villages living close to pesticide-contaminated localities. All individuals have been surveyed concerning their consumption habits and lifestyle characteristics. An assessment of the general exposure risks of the local population was carried out using the analysis of pollutants in food products and the average levels of their consumption in the region. The cohort risk evaluation revealed that the greatest risk was associated with the regular consumption of cucumbers, pears, bell peppers, meat, and milk. The new model to estimate individual risks of long-term pesticide pollution was proposed as a calculation of the combined action of 9 risk factors, including individual genotypes, age, lifestyle, and personal pesticide consumption rates. The analysis of the predictive ability of this model showed that the final score for individual health risks corresponded to the development of chronic diseases. A high level of chromosomal aberrations was evidenced for individual genetic risk manifestations. The combined influence of all risk factors revealed contributions of 24.7% for health status and 14.2% for genetic status, while other impacts go to all unaccounted factors.

Methods comparison for detecting trends in herbicide monitoring time-series in streams

An inadvertent consequence of pesticide use is aquatic pesticide pollution, which has prompted the implementation of mitigation measures in many countries. Water quality monitoring programs are an important tool to evaluate the efficacy of these mitigation measures. However, large interannual variability of pesticide losses makes it challenging to detect significant improvements in water quality and to attribute these improvements to the application of specific mitigation measures. Thus, there is a gap in the literature that informs researchers and authorities regarding the number of years of aquatic pesticide monitoring or the effect size (e.g., loss reduction) that is required to detect significant trends in water quality. Our research addresses this issue by combining two exceptional empirical data sets with modelling to explore the relationships between the achieved pesticide reduction levels due to mitigation measures and the length of the observation period for establishing statistically significant trends. Our study includes both a large (Rhine at Basel, ∼36,300 km2) and small catchment (Eschibach, 1.2 km2), which represent spatial scales at either end of the spectrum that would be realistic for monitoring programs designed to assess water quality. Our results highlight several requirements in a monitoring program to allow for trend detection. Firstly, sufficient baseline monitoring is required before implementing mitigation measures. Secondly, the availability of pesticide use data helps account for the interannual variability and temporal trends, but such data are usually lacking. Finally, the timing and magnitude of hydrological events relative to pesticide application can obscure the observable effects of mitigation measures (especially in small catchments). Our results indicate that a strong reduction (i.e., 70–90 %) is needed to detect a change within 10 years of monitoring data. The trade-off in applying a more sensitive method for change detection is that it may be more prone to false-positives. Our results suggest that it is important to consider the trade-off between the sensitivity of trend detection and the risk of false positives when selecting an appropriate method and that applying more than one method can provide more confidence in trend detection.

Triggering sustainable regeneration of Fe2+ by S-scheme Bi2Fe4O9/BiOBr heterojunction toward highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activation for visible-light-driven removal of thiabendazole

Peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-assisted photocatalytic processes are economical and green strategies for the treatment of pesticide pollution. However, its degradation efficiency is severely hindered by the sluggish kinetics of active centers regeneration and low charge-transfer. Herein, S-scheme Bi2Fe4O9/BiOBr heterogeneous material was designed to activate PMS for thiabendazole (TBZ) degradation. Bi2Fe4O9 and BiOBr have similar structural unit of [Bi2O2]2+ to share the Bi-O bonds, which is favorable to form asymmetric interface and enhance the polarization. Based on these unique characteristics between Bi2Fe4O9 and BiOBr, a robust internal electric field in the S-scheme heterojunction is built, which could provide driving force to boost the electron-transfer process and encourage the sustainable regeneration of Fe2+. After optimizing the proportion of Bi2Fe4O9 on the composite, it was found that 50 wt% Bi2Fe4O9/BiOBr (BFB-50) exhibits the best TBZ removal efficiency after 30 min visible light irradiation, which is 2.25 and 12 folds compared to Bi2Fe4O9 and BiOBr, respectively. Furthermore, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and radical trapping experiments indicate that 1O2 and SO4•- involving oxidation mechanism impart maximum contribution towards TBZ degradation. The possible pathways of TBZ degradation are reasonably proposed by the HPLC-MS and the toxicity evolution of TBZ is appraised using the ECOSAR software. This study provides an insight into the fabrication of S-scheme heterojunction for environment remediation through the photocatalysis/sulfate-mediated advanced oxidation process.

Ecological risks of pesticide pollution of beekeeping products

The article is focused on the actuality of the ecological risks researching of pesticide pollution of agricultural soils, which are the feed and raw material base for beekeeping. There is mentioned the importance of permanent control over the content of dangerous toxicants, in particular chlororganic pesticides, in the bee honey and other beekeeping products in the article. The results of researching the content of residual amounts of persistent chlororganic pesticides hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichlormethylmethane (DDT) in samples of the sunflower honey which are taken from the bee farm of three administrative districts of Cherkasy region are presented. Significant pollution of the sunflower honey from the bee farm which is placed in the village of Novoselytsia by residual amounts of pesticides is detected, the concentration of the sum of metabolites and isomers DDT exceeding the maximum allowable standards in 1.3 to 2.3 times. It should be noted that the determined concentrations of the above mentioned pesticide in the soil (from 6.41 to 23.53 mcg/kg for the MRL is equal 100 mcg/kg) cannot be a source of significant pollution of bee honey. It is suggested that the reason for the xenobiotic entering to bee products through the biological cycle (soil – honey plant – honey) is the presence in the range of honey collection area of anonactive compound of toxic chemicals, which is a powerful source of toxicants, including pesticides into environmental objects. It is detected the direct correlation dependance between the content of pesticides in honey and their concentration in the soil (in the range from r=0.61 for the village of Stebne to r=0.98 for villages of Novoselytsia and Chervone). The importance of assessment of ecological risks of environmental pollution by pesticide residues was proved, since even a small concentration of a toxic substance in soil, water, air, nectar or pollen of honey plants often leads to massive damage and death of bees. It is noted that honey can be used as a suitable bioindicator for assessing the ecological risks of environmental pollution by toxic substances, including chlororganic pesticides.

Understanding the Physicochemical Behavior of Pesticides in Soil and Water

Pesticides serve as indispensable tools in modern agriculture, yet their widespread use poses environmental challenges, particularly concerning soil and water quality. This abstract presents a comprehensive overview of the physicochemical behavior of pesticides in soil and water systems, crucial for effective pesticide management and environmental protection. Factors influencing pesticide fate and transport, including soil properties, pesticide characteristics, environmental conditions, and management practices, are discussed. Key physicochemical processes such as sorption, degradation, volatilization, and leaching govern pesticide behavior, impacting their persistence and potential environmental risks. Strategies for minimizing pesticide contamination and promoting sustainable agriculture are highlighted, emphasizing the importance of integrated pest management and conservation practices. Through collaborative efforts and informed decision-making, we can mitigate pesticide pollution, preserve natural resources, and safeguard ecosystem health.

Pesticides in the hydrogeo-environment: a review of contaminant prevalence, source and mobilisation in India.

Chemical pesticides in the hydrogeological system are a global concern as they pose a severe threat to humans and other organisms. In agriculture, around 4.12 million tonnes of pesticides were used globally in 2018, which is 50% more than in the 1990s. Various pesticides detected in the hydrogeological system of India since the 1990s have been documented and reviewed to understand the prevalence, source, history and degradation pathways. This review contributes to a better understanding of existing pesticide pollution and the state of hydrogeological resource deterioration. Small to excess levels of pesticide residues were detected in groundwater, surface water, soil, and sediments. Pesticides that were most commonly and predominantly found in the hydrogeological system were HCHs, DDTs, endosulfan, heptachlor, drins (aldrin, dieldrin, endrin), chlordane etc. β and γ-HCH isomers among HCHs, whereas p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE among the DDTs were detected most prevalently. In many regions, pesticide residue levels in water have exceeded the maximum residue limits of WHO and BIS, while those in soils and sediments have exceeded the threshold effect level and probable effect level. Higher pesticide residues were detected in the water resources of rural agricultural areas compared to peri-urban or urban areas. A positive correlation of pesticide residues between water resources and soil has been observed in some regions, suggesting a similar contamination source. Diagnostic ratios of pesticides reveal their source, history and degradation pathways. Diagnostic ratios observed in various studies conducted in India suggest historical as well as recent use of banned pesticides. Strengthening current policies and regulations, monitoring pesticide use, changes in pesticide application practices, awareness among farmers, and the use of prominent removal techniques are necessary to tackle pesticide contamination in India.

Polyethylene mulch film-derived microplastics enhance the bioaccumulation of atrazine in two earthworm species (Eisenia fetida and Metaphire guillelmi) via carrier effects

Microplastics (MPs) may significantly affect the bioavailability of coexisting pollutants in soil by adsorption-desorption behavior. However, the mechanisms underlying these interaction remain unclear. Herein, the influence of unused polythylene mulch film-derived MPs (MFMPs) and farmland residual polyethylene mulch film-derived MPs (MFMPs-aged) on the adsorption-desorption behavior and bioavailability of atrazine (ATZ) in soil were investigated. The adsorption kinetics and the adsorption isotherms of ATZ on soil, MFMPs, and MFMPs-aged fitted well by the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir model, respectively. ATZ were easier to desorb from soil, MFMPs, and MFMPs-aged in the simulated earthworm digestive fluid than that in the CaCl2 solution. The adsorption and desorption capacities of MFMPs and MFMPs-aged for ATZ were higher than those of soil, especially for MFMPs-aged. The existence of MPs in soil strengthened the adsorption and desorption capacities of ATZ, and the strengthened effects were promoted by the addition amount and aging process of MPs. Moreover, the occurrence of MPs significantly increased the bioaccumulation of ATZ in earthworms, especially for MFMPs-aged. This study deepens the knowledge of the interaction mechanisms of mulch film-derived MPs and pesticide pollution.

Assessing the Overuse and Health Costs of Pesticide Use in Crop Cultivation: Findings from a Micro-level Study

Pesticides are widely used in agricultural production to prevent and control pests, diseases, weeds, and other plant pathogens to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality. Chemical pesticides can cause undesirable effects on human health and also to the environment because of misuse that concerned with its overuse and exposure to human health and environment. This paper made an attempt to examine the current pesticide use practices for agriculture in Keraniganj Upazilla of Dhaka district in Bangladesh. It analyzed the overuse of pesticide and short-term health costs of pesticide exposure using primary data purposively collected from 60 farmers from the study area. It found that the farmers used 21479.4 grams of extra pesticides commonly used in Bangladesh than the recommended amounts that should be used for the 5 different types of crops: boro paddy, cauliflower, potato, eggplant, red leaf vegetable, and gourd leaf vegetable for per acre of land. This generates an additional production cost of Tk.65,640.07 per acre in each growing season. Using the cost of illness (COI) method it is founded that the average health cost generated from pesticide application was estimated to be Tk.284.09 for one incidence of pesticide use related health problem. About 3.3% of the pesticide applicators were found to face breathing problem, 10% faced skin diseases, 13.3% diarrhea, 8.3% eye irritation and 18.3% headache because of pesticide pollution. It is also understood that 88.3% of the surveyed farmers were unaware about the side-effects of pesticide use, while 98.3% applicators did not use any special dress or personal protective equipment (PPE) and 61.7% used no mask during pesticide application in their crop fields. It is also found that there is an absence of bio-pesticide use in the study area. Based on the study findings this paper indicates that there is a need for rigorous training and knowledge sharing efforts among the pesticide applicators in the study area as well as in the entire country. Policy makers and the Agriculture Extension Department (AED) thus are particularly expected to address the issue with utmost importance to ensure proper use of pesticides for agriculture in the country.

In situ works on ecotoxicology in amphibians: current state of the art

Amphibians play a fundamental role in the functioning of ecosystems, mainly in the nutrient cycle, energy flow, and pest control. This group has a massive population decline, with approximately 41% of all species at risk, highlighting pesticide pollution as one of the main threats to the loss of anuran biodiversity. This occurs since amphibians have an epidermis with high permeability and a biphasic life cycle, where they use both the aquatic and terrestrial environments, allowing exposure and making them susceptible to chemical agents released into the environment. This makes amphibians a model group in ecotoxicological studies. However, due to the greater control of experimental conditions, the vast majority of studies are carried out in the laboratory, thus maintaining a gap in knowledge about the effects of pesticides on amphibians in natural environments. Under natural conditions, where environmental variables are not controlled, experiments must relate all the dynamics of the interaction of substances existing in the environment, and their influences on organisms. To evaluate the studies already performed under natural conditions, a bibliographic survey was carried out through a search with the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases, considering articles published in the last twenty years, using the terms 'field experimentation' or 'in situ study', associated with 'tadpole' and 'agrochemical' or 'pesticide', using a descriptive methodology. Twenty-one abstracts were pre-selected, they were further evaluated and the methodologies were checked to ensure only the analysis of experiments conducted in the field conditions. Thus, ten works were selected for the construction of the review. The works selected used native amphibian species, considered generalists, present in the study region, and were carried out in environments intended for agricultural cultivation with control groups in preserved locations. In these works, different methodologies were used, such as intentional spraying of water bodies, quantification of pesticides in the study sites, and verification of changes caused by the environment on tadpoles. The main evaluations were based on the survival and morphological changes of the tadpoles and, in some cases, on cytological and biochemical assays.

A screening study of the spatial distribution and cumulative toxicity of agricultural pesticides in the European Union’s waters

Pesticides can be an important stressor to aquatic ecosystems, and their use is strictly regulated in the European Union (EU). However, data on the use of pesticides are rather limited and poorly available, and monitoring is often insufficient to characterize their actual exposure and impact. The aim of the work presented here is to harness the limited data available and assess, for the first time, the distribution of concentrations and toxicity of 148 pesticide active substances (AS) for the whole EU. Starting from available estimates of pesticide use in agriculture and a simple screening-level model of their fate and transport, we quantify pesticide concentrations in soil and water. A comparison with monitoring data shows that predicted water concentrations are in plausible orders of magnitude, hence the model can be regarded as a first-approximation representation of the distribution of pesticides in the environment. The toxicity of individual pesticide active substances (AS) is characterized by their concentrations divided by the respective no observed effect concentrations (NOEC) for aquatic organisms, which represents the “toxic units” (TU) of each AS. The cumulative toxicity of pesticides in soils and streams of the EU is obtained by summing the TU of individual AS. We estimate that the toxicity of individual AS is generally well below 0.1 TU, indicating relatively safe environmental exposure. However, the cumulative toxicity of a mixture of AS can exceed 0.1 toxic units (TU) for more than 27% of the length of the EU’s stream network, and 1 TU for more than 4%. The cumulative toxicity at a given location is driven by only a handful of AS, but these differ from site to site reflecting the variability of pesticide use. Still, we estimate that only about 20 AS out of 148 appear among the top contributors to cumulative toxicity in most cases. While our assessment suggests a relatively widespread risk due to pesticide pollution, it also points to the important limitations concerning knowledge of pesticide use and monitoring of pesticide occurrence in the environment. These limitations need to be addressed in order to evaluate more accurately the effectiveness of EU pesticide policies. The assessment represents a proof-of-concept of a method that can be applied in support of the monitoring of pesticide policies implementation in the EU and elsewhere, once pesticide use can be estimated.

Application and Prospect of Soil Microorganisms in Agro-ecological Environment

Sustainable agriculture has also received increasing attention in recent years. In the pollution of the agro-ecological environment, pollution sources such as oil, pesticides and heavy metals are seriously affecting the soil. These pollution will not only reduce food production and poor crop growth, but also greatly affect the soil environment, which will cause major losses to agriculture in the long run. Among the many methods for soil environment remediation, microbial remediation is the most promising bioremediation technology with development and application potential. In this paper, the application types, influencing factors and mechanisms of microorganisms in the restoration of petroleum, heavy metal and pesticide pollution, as well as the development status of microbial remediation technology and its application prospect in agricultural ecological environment are reviewed.

Contamination characteristics, spatial distribution and ecological-health risk assessment of legacy and current-use pesticides: a case study in the Beibu Gulf

With the prohibition of conventional organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), the extensive use and continuous release of current-use pesticides (CUPs), such as organic amine pesticides (OAPs) and organophosphate pesticides (OPPs), in agriculture and mariculture activities have raised global attention. In this study, the occurrence and distribution of 36 pesticides from above 3 categories were investigated in seawater and sediment in Beibu Gulf, a typical subtropical agricultural and maricultrual zone. Results showed that pesticides were widely present in this region with the total concentration ranging from 0.36 to 21.07 ng/L in seawater and from 0.02 to 9.73 ng/g dw in sediment. OAPs and OPPs were the most abundant categories contributing 74% and 66% to the total pesticides burden in seawater and sediment, respectively, revealing the current-use pesticides as substitutes of legacy organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were mainly used in surrounding areas. For both seawater and surface sediment, the spatial distribution of pesticides concentrations showed generally seaward decreasing trends, suggesting that anthropogenic activities at coastal areas have an important impact on pesticides pollution. Source identification indicated OCPs in some seawater samples might be from mixture of antifouling paint and dicofol usage, while history residues are main sources of OCPs in sediment. OAPs, especially for cyflufenamid and kresoxim-methyl, mainly come from agricultral and maricultural sewage input, and OPPs were speculated from currency transportation from surrounding areas. Ecological risk assessment showed that OPPs posed moderate to even high risks in most seawater sites. It appears that crustaceans are the most sensitive trophic species to OPPs among aquatic organisms, followed by fish. According to the results of health risks proposed by the major aquatic products in Beibu Gulf (fish and shrimp), the selected pesticides pose no health risk to humans. Nevertheless, OCPs made the highest contribution to the total HQ values. Comprehensively considering the evaluation results of both ecological and health risks, more attention should be given on OPPs and OCPs pollution in the Beibu Gulf.

Elucidation of the environmental reductive metabolism of the herbicide tritosulfuron assisted by electrochemistry and mass spectrometry

The environmental impact of pesticides and other pollutants is, to a great extent, determined by degradation and accumulation processes. Consequently, degradation pathways of pesticides have to be elucidated before approval by the authorities. In this study, the environmental metabolism of the sulfonylurea-herbicide tritosulfuron was investigated using aerobic soil degradation studies, during which a previously unidentified metabolite was observed using high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The new metabolite was formed by reductive hydrogenation of tritosulfuron but the isolated amount and purity of the substance were insufficient to fully elucidate its structure. Therefore, electrochemistry coupled to mass spectrometry was successfully applied to mimic the reductive hydrogenation of tritosulfuron. After demonstrating the general feasibility of electrochemical reduction, the electrochemical conversion was scaled up to the semi-preparative scale and 1.0 mg of the hydrogenated product was synthesized. Similar retention times and mass spectrometric fragmentation patterns proved that the same hydrogenated product was formed electrochemically and in soil studies. Using the electrochemically generated standard, the structure of the metabolite was elucidated by means of NMR spectroscopy, which shows the potential of electrochemistry and mass spectrometry in environmental fate studies.

Deciphering the recent trends in pesticide bioremediation using genome editing and multi-omics approaches: a review.

Pesticide pollution in recent times has emerged as a grave environmental problem contaminating both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems owing to their widespread use. Bioremediation using gene editing and system biology could be developed as an eco-friendly and proficient tool to remediate pesticide-contaminated sites due to its advantages and greater public acceptance over the physical and chemical methods. However, it is indispensable to understand the different aspects associated with microbial metabolism and their physiology for efficient pesticide remediation. Therefore, this review paper analyses the different gene editing tools and multi-omics methods in microbes to produce relevant evidence regarding genes, proteins and metabolites associated with pesticide remediation and the approaches to contend against pesticide-induced stress. We systematically discussed and analyzed the recent reports (2015-2022) on multi-omics methods for pesticide degradation to elucidate the mechanisms and the recent advances associated with the behaviour of microbes under diverse environmental conditions. This study envisages that CRISPR-Cas, ZFN and TALEN as gene editing tools utilizing Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli and Achromobacter sp. can be employed for remediation of chlorpyrifos, parathion-methyl, carbaryl, triphenyltin and triazophos by creating gRNA for expressing specific genes for the bioremediation. Similarly, systems biology accompanying multi-omics tactics revealed that microbial strains from Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas putida, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Rhodococcus sp. and Pencillium oxalicum are capable of degrading deltamethrin, p-nitrophenol, chlorimuron-ethyl and nicosulfuron. This review lends notable insights into the research gaps and provides potential solutions for pesticide remediation by using different microbe-assisted technologies. The inferences drawn from the current study will help researchers, ecologists, and decision-makers gain comprehensive knowledge of value and application of systems biology and gene editing in bioremediation assessments.

A smartphone-based fluorospectrophotometer and ratiometric fluorescence nanoprobe for on-site quantitation of pesticide residue

Cost-effective and user-friendly quantitation at points-of-need plays an important role in food safety inspection, environmental monitoring, and biomedical analysis. This study reports a stand-alone smartphone-based fluorospectrophotometer (the SBS) installed with a custom-designed application (the SBS-App) for on-site quantitation of pesticide using a ratiometric sensing scheme. The SBS can collect fluorescence emission spectra in the wavelength range of 380-760nm within 5s. A ratiometric fluorescence probe is facilely prepared by directly mixing the blue-emissive carbon nanodots (the Fe3+-specific fluorometric indicator) and red-emissive quantum dots (the internal standard) at a ratio of 11.6 (w/w). Based on the acetylcholinesterase/choline oxidase dual enzyme-mediated cascade catalytic reactions of Fe2+/Fe3+ transformation, a ratiometric fluorescence sensing scheme is developed. The practicability of the SBS is validated by on-site quantitation of chlorpyrifos in apple and cabbage with a comparable accuracy to the GC-MS method, offering a scalable solution to establish a cost-effective surveillance system for pesticide pollution.

Preparation of Bi2O2CO3/BiOBr0.9I0.1 photocatalyst and its degradation performance for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

Pesticide pollution has caused serious harm to the ecological environment and presents a major risk to human health due to drinking water resource contamination. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), as a class II toxic compound, can cause human health hazards, including neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, reproductive defects and abortion. In this study, pure Bi2O2CO3/BiOBr0.9I0.1 photocatalyst material was prepared for the degradation of pesticides using a solvothermal method. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of the photocatalyst were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), Steady-state photoluminescence (PL), and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The Bi2O2CO3/BiOBr0.9I0.1 catalyst could degrade 89.1% of 2,4-D within 120 min under visible light. After four cycles of reuse, Bi2O2CO3/BiOBr0.9I0.1 retained a high degradation performance for 2,4-D. The results of active substance capture experiments and ESR, showed that ·O2- and h+ were the main active substances. Under the synergistic effects of heterojunction and the solid solution, 10 wt%Bi2O2CO3/BiOBr0.9I0.1 was able to efficiently photocatalyze 2,4-D degradation. The use of the double modification method of solid solution and heterojunction construction regulates the band structure of BiOBr, resulting in a high photogenerated carrier separation efficiency and good light response capability. The Z-type heterojunction provides the photogenerated carriers with a high redox capacity. The synergistic effect of the two modification strategies results in the BiOBr based composite photocatalyst exhibiting excellent visible photocatalytic activity.

Pesticide Pollution and It’s Effects on Environment and Human Health: A Review

Pesticides are chemical composition that are used to control the pest. The increased usage of pesticides with each passing day, are becoming poisonous for our environment. It causes acute and chronic effects on human health. Pesticides help the farmer for growing more crops into small land with high quality food. Use of other methods of controlling pests such as integrated pest management (IPM) strategies.

Spatiotemporal variations, surface inventory, and cross regional impact of current-use organoamine pesticides in Chinese Marginal Seas

Current-use Organoamine Pesticides (CUOAPs) are a growing concern as emerging pesticide pollutants that were initially discovered on a large scale in Chinese Marginal Seas (CMSs). The highest level was detected in the East China Sea in the late spring and decreased in the following order: East China Sea (early spring) > the South China Sea > the Bohai Sea. The crucial role played by the Yangtze and Yellow rivers as significant terrestrial sources were established. The fluctuations in the land application and riverine input led to variations in the source, distribution, and seasonal patterns of CUOAPs. Terrestrial-exported CUOAPs were transported and redistributed spatially by the surface ocean currents, resulting in significant regional disparities. The results displayed a pronounced terrestrial source signature and a cross-regional impact. By the ocean current transport, CMSs will likely become a secondary source region for the surrounding seas.