Pesticide prioritization approaches and limitations in environmental monitoring studies: From Europe to Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Assessment and management of issues related to pesticide residues, such as environmental fate, monitoring and toxicity, are complex and, in many cases, require costly studies. The early establishment of a priority list of pesticides that should be monitored and assigned to a restricted-use policy is an important issue of post-registration Risk Assessment (RA). Various pesticide registration approaches have been adopted by different countries with those from Europe and the USA being the most popular, constituting the major prototypes for registration approaches in other countries. Adoption of pesticide registration and monitoring systems developed in Europe or USA by Latin American and Caribbean countries may underestimate factors affecting the environmental fate and toxicity of pesticides in their own countries. Incentive for this short review was the activities undertaken during the three KNOWPEC workshops held in Costa Rica, Argentina and Bolivia where European pesticide experts met Latin American experience in the form of Costa Rica's exceptional environmental conditions and ecology, Argentina's and Uruguay's soyisation and Bolivia's contrasting climate and agricultural zones. During the parallel activities of the workshop -including scientific presentations, field trips, interviews and meetings among European partners and pesticide stakeholders in Latin America, -the whole pesticide chain (import-export, trade, application, plant protection-efficacy, residues, monitoring, remediation and risk) was studied and clarified. Recently-published chemical prioritization studies were reviewed to consider their use as a tool to support risk assessments. Differences in regional practices are highlighted as regards to the establishment of RA or prioritization strategy in European and Latin American regimes. General guidance of establishing a cost-effective pesticide monitoring scheme in water bodies of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is also proposed. Moreover, we summarize the most important factors that should be taken into consideration for prioritization approaches and categorization used in pesticide environmental monitoring studies. Consideration of current RA approaches and limitations, and pesticide prioritization exercises highlighted in this Commentary could assist in the management of pesticides in Latin America and Caribbean. Pesticide registration and risk assessment in Europe and USA and their limitationsPesticides are cited as being essential to prevent food shortages in support of an ever-increasing global population (Carvalho, 2006). The inherent toxicity of pesticides and their intentional release into the environment requires significant steps to be taken to ensure that they do not pose an unacceptable risk to the environment or human health.

Pesticides Burden in Neotropical Rivers: Costa Rica as a Case Study

“…are herbicides ametryn, bromacil, butachlor, diuron, hexazinone, oxyfluorfen, pendimethalin, and terbutryn; fungicides azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil, epoxiconazole, fenpropimorph, imazalil, pencycuron, and spiroxamine; insecticides cypermethrin, buprofezin, cadusafos, carbaryl, carbofuran, chlorpyriphos, cyhalothrin, diazinon, dimethoate, ethoprophos, fenamiphos, imidacloprid, lindane, phorate, profenofos, terbufos, and triazophos. Vryzas et al [ 28 ] state that limitations in risk assessment, coupled with the low level of implementation of pesticide regulations are partially causing the presence of pesticides above the normative, which implies that environmental protection goals might not be reached.…”

“…This study highlights the need for systematic pesticide residue monitoring of fresh waters in the Neotropical region, to acknowledge if the exposure to biota from specific pesticides is higher or lower than predicted by the risk analysis (toxicity tests and predictive models of exposure) executed prior to the registration [ 28 ]. Results from such a monitoring program would serve as a retrospective environmental risk assessment to address unacceptable risks.…”

“…It is clear that monocultures (especially genetically modified crops) have expanded greatly in Latin American countries, and with this increment, higher use of pesticides has also occurred [ 28 ]. In Central America, more than 180,000 tons of 353 a.i.…”

Risks and opportunities associated with pollinators’ conservation and management of pollination services in Latin America

“…In addition, direct (i.e., those determining habitat loss) and indirect (i.e., those non-targeted harms also affecting biodiversity) threats for pollinators also exist, including the intensification of largescale agriculture, the increasing application of pesticides, and the occurrence of invasive species, pathogens and climate change (Freitas et al 2009;Vandame and Palacio 2010;Giannini et al 2017;FAO 2019;Wolowski et al 2019), which can additively trigger pollinators decline and pollination deficits among native plants and many crops (Lopes et al 2009;Ferreira et al 2015;Hipólito et al 2018). The increases in pesticide application have been markedly different among continental regions (Vryzas et al 2020). In Europe and North America, the total amount of pesticide application per year was stable between 1990 and 2018 (around 0.45-0.50Mton/year), but continuous increases were registered in Africa, Asia and Central America (25, 95 and 97%, respectively), and markedly in South America (>480%) (FAO 2019).…”

Polluted paradise: Occurrence of pesticide residues within the urban coastal zones of Santa Cruz and Isabela (Galapagos, Ecuador)

“…This observation a highlights problems in developing countries associated with regulating the use of older, non-patented, toxic and environmentally persistent pesticides (Ecobichon, 2001). In Latin America, pesticides that are currently forbidden in the United States and European Union have been used legally for several decades ( Solorzano, 1989;Shrader-Frechette, 1991;Vryzas et al, 2020;Ramírez-Morales et al, 2021). For instance, in Ecuador, DDT was applied inside houses between 1957 and 1999, distributed without any control, and used in agriculture for pest control (Grillo & Venora, 2011).…”