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Modeling pesticides in global surface soils: Evaluating spatiotemporal patterns for USEtox-based steady-state
1School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong 510275, China.
The Science of the Total Environment
|August 20, 2021
Summary
A new screening model predicts pesticide pollution in surface soils by analyzing degradation, volatilization, and plant uptake. Environmental factors like temperature and rainfall significantly influence pesticide dissipation rates, aiding soil and ecological risk management.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Chemistry
- Soil Science
- Ecotoxicology
Background:
- Pesticide pollution in surface soils poses risks to environmental and ecological health.
- Managing pesticide pollution requires accurate assessment of their fate and transport in soil environments.
- Existing models may not fully capture the complex dissipation processes influenced by environmental variables.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a first-order-kinetics-based screening model for evaluating steady-state pesticide concentrations in surface soils.
- To characterize the influence of key environmental variables on pesticide dissipation rates.
- To provide a tool for predicting pesticide concentrations globally to enhance risk management.
Main Methods:
- Developed a spatiotemporal-pattern-based model incorporating degradation, volatilization, and plant uptake processes.
- Utilized environmental variables such as air temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall intensity to determine dissipation rates (kT).
- Converted dissipation rates to fate factors (FFs) and parameterized the model using data from 737 pesticides and the USEtox database.
Main Results:
- Dissipation rates (kT) generally increase with higher air temperature and rainfall intensity, and decrease with higher relative humidity.
- Soil pesticide degradation was identified as the dominant dissipation process, with volatilization contributing the least.
- Simulated chlorpyrifos fate factors varied geographically, with lower values in Brazil and higher values in the EU, indicating potential accumulation in high-latitude regions.
Conclusions:
- The developed screening model effectively predicts pesticide concentrations in surface soils worldwide.
- Environmental factors significantly modulate pesticide dissipation, impacting potential accumulation.
- The model serves as a valuable tool for improving soil and ecological health risk management strategies.
