Advances in pesticide environmental fate and exposure assessments

Globalization of markets and the growing world population increase threats of invasive and exotic species and place greater demands on food and fiber production. Pest management in both agricultural and nonagricultural settings employs established practices and new biological, chemical, and management technologies. Pesticides are an essential tool in integrated pest management. Without pesticides a significant percentage of food and fiber crops would be lost, infectious diseases would increase, and valuable native habitats would be devastated. Therefore, it is important to understand the environmental fate of pesticides and assess their potential exposure and associated risks to human health and the environment. This paper summarizes the Advances in Pesticide Environmental Fate and Exposure Assessment symposium held at the 231st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (Atlanta, GA, 2006). The focus of the symposium was to provide current information on advances in pesticide environmental fate and exposure assessments. Thirty papers were presented on advances ranging from subcellular processes to watershed-scale studies on topics including chemical degradation, sorption, and transport; improved methodologies; use of modeling and predictive tools; exposure assessment; and treatment and remediation. This information is necessary to develop more effective pesticide use and management practices, to better understand pesticide fate and associated exposures and risks, to develop mitigation and remediation strategies, and to establish sound science-based regulations.