Assessment of Total Risk on Non-Target Organisms in Fungicide Application for Agricultural Sustainability

Abstract

Abstract:In Turkey, in 2010, the amount of pesticide (active ingredient; a.i.) used in agriculture was about 23,000 metric tons, of which approximately 32% was fungicides. In 2012, 14 a.i. were used for fungus control in wheat cultivation areas in Adana province, Turkey. These a.i. were: azoxystrobin, carbendazim, difenoconazole, epoxiconazole, fluquinconazole, prochloraz, propiconazole, prothioconazole, pyraclostrobin, spiroxamine, tebuconazole, thiophanate-methyl, triadimenol, and trifloxystrobin. In this study, the potential risk of a.i. on non-target organisms in fungicide application of wheat cultivation was assessed by The Pesticide Occupational and Environmental Risk (POCER) indicators. In this study, the highest human health risk was for fluquinconazole (Exceedence Factor (EF) 1.798 for human health), whereas the fungicide with the highest environmental risk was propiconazole (EF 2.000 for the environment). For non-target organisms, the highest potential risk was determined for propiconazole when applied at 0.1250 kg a.i. ha-1 (EF 2.897). The lowest total risk was for azoxystrobin when applied at 0.0650 kg a.i. ha-1 (EF 0.625).

Wheat phyllosphere yeasts degrade propiconazole

“…In their study, epoxiconazole delayed ageing in Triticum aestivum by increasing the plant's antioxidant potential. The environmental toxicity of propiconazole can be attributed mainly to its persistence in soil [55]. Intensive fungicide use contributes to the accumulation of fungicides in the environment and food products [56].…”

Imidacloprid seed treatments affect individual ant behavior and community structure but not egg predation, pest abundance or soybean yield

“…The fungicide itself used on seed treatments had lethal effects and sublethal influences on ant movements, indicating potentially strong non‐target effects on ant communities. Fungicides have been reported to cause death and altered foraging/nesting behaviors in other insects, but have not been well studied on ants, especially when used in conjunction with insecticides . As the foraging time and success rates were not impacted in either the laboratory or field assays, these sublethal effects from imidacloprid and fungicides might impact ant colonies in other ways such as their ability to reproduce or the longevity and aggression of a colony .…”

Identification and characterization of tebuconazole transformation products in soil by combining suspect screening and molecular typology

“…Once released into the agro-ecosystem, pesticides and their TPs can diffuse away from their target point, contaminate surrounding water resources 5 and impact non-target organisms supporting key ecosystemic services. 6 The properties of TPs such as bioavailability, mobility and ecotoxicity can be substantially different from the parent compound 7,8 and although their biological efficacy is usually lower, 9 they could be highly (eco-)toxicologically relevant. 10 In Europe, a posteriori monitoring of the contamination of water and air resources by pesticides is imposed by corresponding directives.…”