Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Characterization and Application of Passive Samplers for Monitoring of Pesticides in Water
Published on: August 3, 2016
Framework for Function-Based Pesticide Substitution
Phatchari Mankong1, Pruetthichat Punyawattoe2, Günter Brader3
1Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
None:
Agricultural pesticides can harm humans and the environment, with many current-use pesticides being highly hazardous. Substituting hazardous pesticides with less impactful alternatives comes with challenges related to systematically matching crops, pests, and pesticides, considering regulations, equal efficacy, and combining pesticides to collectively control a wider set of pests across critical crop stages. We propose a quantitative framework to define and assess functionally equivalent scenarios for substituting hazardous pesticides in real-life agricultural applications to reduce human and ecosystem health impacts. Testing our framework on pesticide use in Thailand highlights that particularly hazardous pesticides are applied to certain crops (e.g., tomato, Brassica vegetables) and pests (e.g., tomato leaf miner flies, different thrips species). We found that the number of scenarios combining different pesticides is not an indicator of the variability in scenario impacts: some crop-pest class (e.g., insects) pairs with >10,000 possible scenarios of pesticide combinations vary less in impact performance than some pairs with fewer scenarios. For each crop-pest class pair, we recommend the 10% best-in-class impact performance scenarios for substituting more hazardous scenarios. Our framework can inform policymakers to identify hazardous pesticides for phase out, support ambitions of UNEP's Global Framework on Chemicals, and aid farmers to reduce their pesticide-related chemical footprint.
Related Concept Videos
Trigonometric Substitution
Rationalizing Substitutions
Exponential Functions with Base e
Diazonium Group Substitution: –OH and –H
Structural Protein Function
Collagen, the most abundant protein in mammals, is found throughout the body. In connective tissue, such as skin, ligaments, and tendons, it provides tensile strength and elasticity. In bones and teeth, it mineralizes to...
Evaluating Limits by Direct Substitution

