Are there any risks of the disposal of pesticide effluents in soils? Biobed system meets ecotoxicology ensuring safety to soil fauna

Abstract

The biobed is a purification system, which reduces soil pollution for receiving pesticide residues from handling and washing machinery in agricultural areas. The aims of this study were (1) to assess ecotoxicity effects over time to soil fauna, posed by Lorsban ® 480 BR (Chlorpyrifos) and Dithane ® NT (Mancozeb) residues when disposed of in a biobed system compared with two subtropical soils, and (2) to assess ecotoxicity effects over time to soil fauna simulating an accidental spillage with Lorsban ® 480 BR at the biobed. A semi-field experiment was conducted for 420 days in southern Brazil, testing continuous disposal of washing pulverization tanks in biobeds, Typic Haploperox or Typic Hapludults. In addition, different biobeds received a single dose (1 L) of Lorsban ® 480 BR to simulate an accidental spillage. Chronic ecotoxicity tests were performed using Folsomia candida, Eisenia andrei, and Enchytraeus crypticus in different sampling times for both experiments. F. candida was the most sensitive species. The biobed system was able to eliminate effects from residues of both pesticides over time in all species, which did not happen in both natural soils. In accidental spillage simulation, even 420 days after contamination, F. candida did not show reproduction. The biobeds can be a feasible alternative for the disposal and treatment residues of pesticides, also for handling and washing pesticides activities. The system was efficient in promoting degradation and reducing ecotoxicity effects posed by Lorsban ® 480 BR and Dithane ® NT for soil fauna. It is a safe alternative to avoid soil contamination.

On-Farm Removal of Pesticides: Current Insights on Biopurification Systems

“…Several benchmark organisms were employed to monitor the ecotoxicological changes during the treatment of chlorpyrifos and mancozeb; both mortality and reproduction determinations revealed a decreasing sensitivity pattern as follows: the collembolan F. candida > the annelid E. cryoticus > the earthworm E. andrei ; in the case of the most sensitive F. candida , the biomixture was able to restore low toxicity levels only after 420 d of treatment . A similar trend was observed during the treatment of phosmet, in which case the detoxification toward F. candida required more than 60 d, while faster detoxification was achieved toward E. cryoticus after 30 d …”

“…It should be highlighted, however, that ecotoxicological evaluation has not been extensively applied in this field; Table shows most of the works that have employed ecotoxicological analysis to monitor the performance of biomixtures. Acute tests, probably due to their faster, cheaper, and in general easier protocols, have been employed more often than chronic tests, basically applying the immobilization test in the microcrustacean Daphnia magna , , mortality tests in the earthworm Eisenia andrei , the annelid worm Enchytraeus crypticus , and the springtail Folsomia candida − as well as the inhibition of bioluminescence in Vibrio fischeri . Chronic assays so far applied include reproduction tests in the same organisms used for acute determinations, and metabolic alterations in the fish Oreochromis aureus ; ,, similarly, phytotoxicity determined by germination tests in the plant Lactuca sativa has been seldom applied. ,,,, Alternative approaches such as the use of pesticide toxicity index (PTI), which employs ecotoxicological parameters from aquatic indicator species (i.e., vascular and nonvascular plants, invertebrates, and fish) rather than direct tests, have been used to determine detoxification of BPS effluents.…”

“…Acute tests, probably due to their faster, cheaper, and in general easier protocols, have been employed more often than chronic tests, basically applying the immobilization test in the microcrustacean Daphnia magna , , mortality tests in the earthworm Eisenia andrei , the annelid worm Enchytraeus crypticus , and the springtail Folsomia candida − as well as the inhibition of bioluminescence in Vibrio fischeri . Chronic assays so far applied include reproduction tests in the same organisms used for acute determinations, and metabolic alterations in the fish Oreochromis aureus ; ,, similarly, phytotoxicity determined by germination tests in the plant Lactuca sativa has been seldom applied. ,,,, Alternative approaches such as the use of pesticide toxicity index (PTI), which employs ecotoxicological parameters from aquatic indicator species (i.e., vascular and nonvascular plants, invertebrates, and fish) rather than direct tests, have been used to determine detoxification of BPS effluents. As expected, the usefulness of these benchmark organisms depends on the functional nature of the pesticides removed in the BPS; i.e., the daphnids are expected to be more sensitive to insecticides, and the phytotoxicity tests are more appropriate for herbicides.…”

Toxicity of conventional pesticides on the ecosystem services of terrestrial arthropod fauna in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) cultivation in San Martin, Peru

“…El GT detritívoro en la segunda evaluación para el índice N obtuvo en el T4, el menor valor promedio. Otras investigaciones sugieren un mayor efecto tóxico del clorpirifos en comparación a otros plaguicidas como la deltametrina y el dimetoato sobre los microartrópodos detritívoros de suelo como Folsomia candida y en comparación al bifentrin, pyriproxyfen, benzoato de emamectina, y spinosad sobre Isotoma decorata (Kamoun et al, 2018;Carniel et al, 2020;Ahmed et al, 2021). Se han mostraron reducciones drásticas en los microartrópodos de suelo por la acción del clorpirifos en los cultivos de algodón y Capsicum (Suresh et al, 2021).…”

Study of the depuration efficiency and microbiology of biobed systems which receive pesticide contaminated effluents from various agro-food processing units

“…Biological treatment could provide a solution to the depuration of pesticidecontaminated effluents . Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of biobeds to treat pesticide-contaminated effluents, produced (i) at agro-industrial level in FPIs Carniel et al, 2020;Dias et al, 2021) and agrochemical producing industries and (ii) at on-farm level by pesticide handling activities in vineyards and olive orchards (Delgado-Moreno et al, 2017). The depuration efficiency of biobeds largely relies on their packing material, a biological active substrate that act as pesticide adsorbant and as a source of an active microbiota able to effectively degrade the pesticides contained in the effluents .…”