TY - JOUR
T1 - Widespread Pesticide Distribution in the European Atmosphere Questions their Degradability in Air
AU - Mayer, Ludovic
AU - Degrendele, Céline
AU - Šenk, Petr
AU - Kohoutek, Jiři
AU - Přibylová, Petra
AU - Kukučka, Petr
AU - Melymuk, Lisa
AU - Durand, Amandine
AU - Ravier, Sylvain
AU - Alastuey, Andres
AU - Baker, Alex R.
AU - Baltensperger, Urs
AU - Baumann-Stanzer, Kathrin
AU - Biermann, Tobias
AU - Bohlin-Nizzetto, Pernilla
AU - Ceburnis, Darius
AU - Conil, Sébastien
AU - Couret, Cédric
AU - Degórska, Anna
AU - Diapouli, Evangelia
AU - Eckhardt, Sabine
AU - Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos
AU - Forster, Grant L.
AU - Freier, Korbinian
AU - Gheusi, François
AU - Gini, Maria I.
AU - Hellén, Heidi
AU - Henne, Stephan
AU - Herrmann, Hartmut
AU - Holubová Šmejkalová, Adéla
AU - Hõrrak, Urmas
AU - Hüglin, Christoph
AU - Junninen, Heikki
AU - Kristensson, Adam
AU - Langrene, Laurent
AU - Levula, Janne
AU - Lothon, Marie
AU - Ludewig, Elke
AU - Makkonen, Ulla
AU - Matejovičová, Jana
AU - Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos
AU - Mináriková, Veronika
AU - Moche, Wolfgang
AU - Noe, Steffen M.
AU - Pérez, Noemí
AU - Petäjä, Tuukka
AU - Pont, Véronique
AU - Poulain, Laurent
AU - Quivet, Etienne
AU - Ratz, Gabriela
AU - Lammel, Gerhard
AU - et al.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Risk assessment of pesticide impacts on remote ecosystems makes use of model-estimated degradation in air. Recent studies suggest these degradation rates to be overestimated, questioning current pesticide regulation. Here, we investigated the concentrations of 76 pesticides in Europe at 29 rural, coastal, mountain, and polar sites during the agricultural application season. Overall, 58 pesticides were observed in the European atmosphere. Low spatial variation of 7 pesticides suggests continental-scale atmospheric dispersal. Based on concentrations in free tropospheric air and at Arctic sites, 22 pesticides were identified to be prone to long-range atmospheric transport, which included 15 substances approved for agricultural use in Europe and 7 banned ones. Comparison between concentrations at remote sites and those found at pesticide source areas suggests long atmospheric lifetimes of atrazine, cyprodinil, spiroxamine, tebuconazole, terbuthylazine, and thiacloprid. In general, our findings suggest that atmospheric transport and persistence of pesticides have been underestimated and that their risk assessment needs to be improved.
AB - Risk assessment of pesticide impacts on remote ecosystems makes use of model-estimated degradation in air. Recent studies suggest these degradation rates to be overestimated, questioning current pesticide regulation. Here, we investigated the concentrations of 76 pesticides in Europe at 29 rural, coastal, mountain, and polar sites during the agricultural application season. Overall, 58 pesticides were observed in the European atmosphere. Low spatial variation of 7 pesticides suggests continental-scale atmospheric dispersal. Based on concentrations in free tropospheric air and at Arctic sites, 22 pesticides were identified to be prone to long-range atmospheric transport, which included 15 substances approved for agricultural use in Europe and 7 banned ones. Comparison between concentrations at remote sites and those found at pesticide source areas suggests long atmospheric lifetimes of atrazine, cyprodinil, spiroxamine, tebuconazole, terbuthylazine, and thiacloprid. In general, our findings suggest that atmospheric transport and persistence of pesticides have been underestimated and that their risk assessment needs to be improved.
KW - atmosphere
KW - Pesticide Distribution
KW - pesticides
KW - risk assessment
KW - transport
KW - air quality
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.3c08488
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.3c08488
M3 - Article
C2 - 38323876
AN - SCOPUS:85187303663
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 58
SP - 3342
EP - 3352
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 7
ER -
