Pesticide Drift: Seeking Reliable Environmental Indicators of Exposure Assessment

Abstract

Pesticide drift, the physical movement of the pesticide droplets or particles through the air at the time of pesticide application or soon thereafter from the target site to any non-target site, is a constant concern in pesticide use because it inevitably occurs even in the most careful applications, and thus, can increase the possibility of detrimental effects of pesticide use on the environment. Numerous factors can affect the occurrence and the extent of pesticide drift, but the main ones are the application method and the spraying equipment used, the canopy type and height, the weather conditions, the physicochemical properties of the spray liquid, and the decisions made by the applicator. Several pesticide risk indicators have been developed so far to predict the potential environmental impact of agrochemicals (including pesticide drift), many of which have the advantage of requiring a small amount of inputs, being rather fast to calculate and easy to interpret, allowing comparisons both in space and time, and representing an integration of different processes in rather complex systems. However, the information to be included in such indicators varies widely among the different indicators utilized, with the selection process often reflecting to a great extent the specific background of the developers. Thus, different indicators may provide different results, depending on the compartments and effects taken into account, often resulting in difficult judgements about which results are most accurate. Assessing the contribution of each single pesticide to potential environmental problems, in addition to eco-toxicological aspects of the products, requires consideration of the method and the timing of application, without ignoring other aspects of pesticide use. Yet, a major problem in such assessments is the lack of reliable quantitative exposure information, a fact which is also related to the paucity of appropriate pesticide usage data, including the behavioural variable of the pesticide applicator. Nevertheless, it appears that indicators for assessing pesticide impact on the environment will presumably proliferate as long as more complete datasets and indicator prototypes are produced and as long as the pioneering efforts are continuously criticized and improved.

Plaguicidas Agricolas: Un Marco De Referencia Para Evaluar Riesgos a La Salud en Comunidades Rurales en El Estado De Sonora, México

“…Es por ello que reciben especial atención los que se utilizan en cultivos como nogal y naranjo, dado que se aplican a cierta altura que favorece su dispersión por el aire en función de ciertos parámetros ambientales, lo cual también puede ocurrir con la vid. En cambio, los herbicidas se aplican directamente a las malezas y tienen un menor alcance en las mismas condiciones ambientales (Damalas 2015).…”

“…Varias investigaciones realizadas en diferentes regiones han demostrado en forma consistente que la dispersión de plaguicidas hacia localidades cercanas a campos de cultivo deposita niveles elevados de estos compuestos tanto en el aire, como en el polvo de calles, patios y viviendas (Quandt et al 2006, Ward et al 2006, Moreno-Villa et al 2012, Wofford et al 2014, Damalas 2015. Adicionalmente, se ha comprobado que el riesgo de exposición en el ambiente por la dispersión de estos compuestos depende principalmente del tipo y cantidad de plaguicida asperjado, la altura del cultivo y la forma de aplicación, así como las condiciones atmosféricas, los equipos de aspersión y la velocidad con que se aplica (USEPA 1997, Hewitt 2002, Nuyttens et al 2010, Fritz et al 2011, Butler-Ellis et al 2016.…”

“…Estos efectos se denominan de "largo plazo", ya que pueden tardar años en manifestarse clínicamente. Tal es el caso de cáncer, efectos neurotóxicos, endócrinos, de la reproducción y otros (Koureas et al 2012, Damalas 2015, Ross et al 2015, Teedon et al 2015, Butler-Dawson et al 2016.…”

Drones: Innovative Technology for Use in Precision Pest Management

“…Aircrafts have been used for decades for pesticide sprays, but products are deposited over large areas, and a large amount is lost to drift (Pimentel 1995, Bird et al 1996. This is a concern for neighboring terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well as for human health (Damalas 2015). Major factors determining spray drift are droplet size (influenced by nozzle type and product formulation), weather conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction), and application method (e.g., spray height above the canopy) (Hofman andSolseng 2001, Al Heidary et al 2014).…”

Business conflict and pesticide risk regulation in Costa Rica: supporting data on laws and instructive events, 1998-2014

“…Important research that apparently has a social science dimension, such as the study of farmers' perceptions of risk, is not being carried out by social scientists but by agronomists or medical practitioners and is being published in science journals (e.g. Boone et al 2014, Damalas 2015. Taking up this challenge and working in interdisciplinary teams, I have contributed to a series of collaborative studies in various countries to fill this gap (Barraza et al 2011(Barraza et al , 2013Ríos-González et al 2013;Toleubayev et al 2007Toleubayev et al , 2010aToleubayev et al , 2010bToleubayev et al , 2011.…”