Pesticide Residues in Organic and Conventional Agricultural Soils across Europe: Measured and Predicted Concentrations

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 58; no. 15; pp. 6744 - 6752
• Main Authors: Knuth, Dennis, Gai, Lingtong, Silva, Vera, Harkes, Paula, Hofman, Jakub, Šudoma, Marek, Bílková, Zuzana, Alaoui, Abdallah, Mandrioli, Daniele, Pasković, Igor, Polić Pasković, Marija, Baldi, Isabelle, Bureau, Mathilde, Alcon, Francisco, Contreras, Josefa, Glavan, Matjaž, Abrantes, Nelson, Campos, Isabel, Norgaard, Trine, Huerta Lwanga, Esperanza, Scheepers, Paul T. J., Ritsema, Coen J., Geissen, Violette
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 16.04.2024
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agriculture; Agrochemicals; Cropping systems; Europe; Growing season; Life Sciences; Mathematical analysis; Mixtures; Occurrence, Fate, and Transport of Aquatic and Terrestrial Contaminants; Organic soils; Pesticide residues; Pesticide Residues - analysis; Pesticide Residues - chemistry; Pesticides; Pesticides - analysis; Residues; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Soil - chemistry; Soil mixtures; Soil Pollutants; Soils; Europe; soils; pesticides; PECs/MECs; farming systems; Farming systems; Soils; Pesticides
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09059

During the growing season of 2021, 201 soil samples from conventionally and organically managed fields from 10 European countries and 8 cropping systems were taken, and 192 residues of synthetic pesticides were analyzed. Pesticide residues were found in 97% of the samples, and 88% of the samples contained mixtures of at least 2 substances. A maximum of 21 substances were found in conventionally managed fields, and a maximum of 12 were found in organically managed fields. The number and concentration of pesticide residues varied significantly between conventional and organic fields in 70 and 50% of the case study sites, respectively. Application records were available for a selected number of fields (n = 82), and these records were compared to the detected substances. Residues from 52% of the applied pesticides were detected in the soils. Only 21% of the pesticide residues detected in the soil samples were applied during the 2021 growing season. From the application data, predicted environmental concentrations of residues in soil were calculated and compared to the measured concentrations. These estimates turned out not to be accurate. The results of this study show that most European agricultural soils contain mixtures of pesticide residues and that current calculation methods may not reliably estimate their presence.