The impact of pesticides used at the agricultural land of the Puck commune on the environment of the Puck Bay

Influence of Orchard Cultural Practices during the Productive Process of Cherries through Life Cycle Assessment

This study describes the influence of orchard cultural practices during the productive process of cherries on the environmental impact in terms of energy, air, soil and water through a “farm to market” Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results were used to identify the orchard cultural practices that contribute significantly to the environmental impact and to find solutions to reduce those impacts, serving as best practices guide to improving the environmental performance and as benchmarks for other national and international cherry and fruit growers. Primary data for production, harvest and post-harvest periods were gathered experimentally. The openLCA 1.10.2 software and the ecoinvent 3.5 database were used for modelling. Test case scenarios are modelled to identify the influence of cultural practices in low and high cherry production campaigns depending on climatic conditions and consequently diseases and plagues. Moreover, results are compared with other studies, not only covering cherries but also other fruits. The energy consumption per hectare in the production phase is similar in test scenarios. The energy consumption of orchard cultural practices related to tractor use, fertilizers and fungicides application are the main hotspots in terms of global warming, freshwater ecotoxicity and eutrophication, and terrestrial acidification. The use of electric vehicles, change the warehouse location or redefine transportation routes can reduce this impact, along with the optimization of the cherry’s quantity transported in each trip. In addition, the use of plant protection products, fertilizers and herbicides with less environmental impact will contribute to this objective. For that, the use of agriculture and precision systems to predict the need for fertilizers (nutrients), herbicides and fungicides, the use of decision support systems to define the dates of cultural practices, as well as innovative and emerging food and by-products processing methods are suggested. Thus, this study identifies and quantifies the environmental impacts associated with the production system of cherries and their main hotspots. It provides a best-practices guide for sustainable solutions in orchard management that contributes to the competitiveness and sustainability of fruit companies.

Appraisal of water matrix on the removal of fungicide residues by heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment using UV-LED lamp as light source

In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of four fungicides, myclobutanil, penconazole and difenoconazole (triazole compounds) and boscalid (carboxamide), has been examined in different aqueous matrices (tap water, irrigation water and two WWPT effluents). Experiments were conducted at laboratory scale with different reagents-zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO₂), sodium persulphate (Na₂S₂O₈) and the combined systems ZnO/Na₂S₂O₈ and TiO₂/Na₂S₂O₈-in water exposed to UV-LED irradiation. Previously, the effect of catalyst and oxidant loading on the disappearance kinetics of the different fungicides was assessed to know maximum degradation efficiency. The influence of water matrices and pesticide loading in removal effectiveness has been evaluated. It was observed a greater efficiency in processes conducted using the tandems ZnO/Na₂S₂O₈ and TiO₂/Na₂S₂O₈ in irrigation and tap waters. Results showed that UV-LED are a suitable alternative for tackling the removal of organic pollutants in water.

Reproductive toxicity of Roundup WG® herbicide: impairments in ovarian follicles of model organism Danio rerio

Glyphosate-based herbicides are widely used in global agriculture, and their effects on different non-target animal organisms have been the focus of many toxicological studies. Regarding the potential role of glyphosate-based herbicides as an endocrine disruptor, the present study aims to investigate the effects of the herbicide Roundup WG® (RWG) on female reproduction, specifically on the ovarian maturation of Danio rerio. Adult females were exposed to low concentrations of RWG (0.065, 0.65, and 6.5 mg L^-1) for 15 days, and then the ovaries were submitted to structural and morphometric procedures, accompanied by analysis of the vitellin protein content. Our results showed an increase of initial ovarian follicle numbers, decrease of late ovarian follicles, and smaller diameter of ovarian follicles in fish exposed to 0.065 and 6.5 mg L^-1. The thickness of vitelline envelope was reduced, and the vitellin protein content was increased in the ovarian follicle in the two highest concentrations. Ultrastructural changes in the ovarian follicular component were evident and expressed by the cell index; vacuolization in follicular cells, increase of perivitelline space, and impaired mitochondria in oocytes were observed. Therefore, RWG adversely affects the ovarian maturation in D. rerio, and these changes can lead to reproductive toxicity, compromising population dynamics.

Towards a multi-basin SWAT model for the migration of nutrients and pesticides to Puck Bay (Southern Baltic Sea)

Background

This paper analyzes the impact of changes in fertilization on crop yields and the runoff of nutrients from a small agricultural catchment (176 km²) to a shallow bay, using the SWAT model. Puck Bay is part of the Gulf of Gdansk and belongs to the Baltic Sea. The whole area of Puck Bay (364 km²) is protected (Natura 2000) yet despite this it suffers from eutrophication problems due to the relatively minimal depth and difficult water exchange.

Methods

The paper presents a comparison of the calculated yields and the runoff of nutrients and pesticides in the SWAT model, for a small agricultural coastal catchment. Calculations were made for 13 crop scenarios with weather data from 2011 to 2019. For each crop, an agriculture calendar was made. Two variants of fertilization were considered (autofertilization mode and according to the calendar). The nutrient runoff was calculated depending on the adopted scenario. In addition, the fate of selected pesticides was simulated.

Results

Depending on the crop, the annual load of NO₃into the stream ranged from 0.74 to 3.65 kg ha^-1. The annual load of organic phosphorous into the stream was between 0.686 and 3.64 kg ha^-1. This is lower than in the majority of EU or Baltic countries. The surface runoff of dissolved Glyphosate was equal to 286 mg ha^-1. The annual loads of nutrients from the catchment area are equivalent in both fertilization modes. Regardless of the selected fertilization mode, in addition to the dosage, the form of nutrients is important for the model.

Adsorption of three pesticides on polyethylene microplastics in aqueous solutions: Kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics, and molecular dynamics simulation

Microplastics could act as a carrier for pesticides in the water environment and pose a potential risk. This study mainly investigated the effects of reaction time, microplastics dosages, pH, and NaCl salinity on the adsorption characteristics of three pesticides (Imidacloprid, Buprofezin, Difenoconazole) on polyethylene (PE) microplastics in aqueous solution. The results showed that high pH and low NaCl salinity were conducive to the adsorption. The adsorption data were well fitted by the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-first-order kinetics, indicating that it was mainly controlled by physical function. The adsorption capacity of three pesticides on PE microplastics followed the order of Difenoconazole > Buprofezin > Imidacloprid. The thermodynamic study indicated the adsorption of all pesticides as spontaneous and exothermic processes, and the elevated temperature was favorable to the adsorption. SEM-EDS and FTIR results verified that pesticides were adsorbed on the microplastics but the adsorption process was mainly controlled by intermolecular Van Der Waals Force and the microporous filling mechanism. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results indicated that surface adsorption was the exclusive mechanism for the adsorption of pesticides on microplastics, and the final adsorption configurations revealed that there were complex interactions between the pesticide molecules and the C, H atoms in PE molecules. The results of this study illustrated that PE microplastics are potential carriers for pesticides in the water environment.