Ecological Risk Assessment for Six Pesticides in Farmland and Surface Water Ecosystems

Area of Science:

• Environmental Toxicology
• Ecotoxicology
• Risk Assessment

Background:

• Pesticides are crucial in agriculture but pose ecological risks to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
• Assessing these risks is vital for sustainable agricultural practices and environmental protection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the ecological risks of six common pesticides in agricultural settings.
• To construct Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) models for terrestrial and aquatic organisms.
• To identify pesticides that pose significant risks to non-target organisms.

Main Methods:

• Utilized toxicity data for terrestrial and aquatic organisms.
• Developed Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) models to determine 5% hazard concentration (HC5) values.
• Calculated Hazard Quotient (HQ) to assess ecological risk to terrestrial non-target organisms.

Main Results:

• Determined HC5 values for six pesticides across terrestrial and aquatic environments.
• Identified significant ecological risks from bifenthrin and pymetrozine to terrestrial insects like *Trichogramma chilonis* and *Trichogramma brasiliensis* (HQ > 5).
• Provided specific HC5 values for various pesticides, indicating varying levels of aquatic toxicity.

Conclusions:

• Pesticide risk assessment is crucial for farmland and surface water ecosystems.
• Bifenthrin and pymetrozine require careful management due to identified risks to beneficial insects.
• Findings provide a scientific basis for the rational application of pesticides to minimize ecological harm.