Invisible hazards: Exploring neonicotinoid contamination and its environmental risks in urban parks across China

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) are commonly used pesticides in agriculture. Urban parks containing numerous green plants and flowers also require NEOs for pest control. However, information on the distribution patterns and environmental risks of NEOs and their metabolites in urban park soils has yet to be discovered, which seriously limits the comprehensive evaluation of the potential hazards of NEOs. Our study explored the occurrence and distribution patterns of ten NEOs and five major metabolites in park soils from Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Urumqi of China. At least three NEOs were detected in 95 % of soil samples, with the sum of all NEOs (∑₁₀NEOs) ranging from 2.21 to 204 ng/g. Guangzhou has the highest levels of ∑₁₀NEOs (median: 52.1 ng/g), followed by Urumqi (49.3 ng/g) and Shijiazhuang (21.7 ng/g). The top three most common NEOs in all three cities are imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and thiacloprid, which together account for 67 % to 70 % of ∑₁₀NEOs. The levels of the metabolites of NEOs show a significant positive correlation with their corresponding parent NEOs. These NEOs pose detrimental effects to non-targeted invertebrates in the soil. Our findings raise concern about the environmental risks posed by NEO exposure to humans and other organisms in urban parks.