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Concept
Pesticide degradation
Summary
Pesticide degradation is the process by which a pesticide is transformed into a benign substance that is environmentally compatible with the site to which it was applied. Globally, an estimated 1 to 2.5 million tons of active pesticide ingredients are used each year, mainly in agriculture. Forty percent are herbicides, followed by insecticides and fungicides. Since their initial development in the 1940s, multiple chemical pesticides with different uses and modes of action have been employed. Pesticides are applied over large areas in agriculture and urban settings. Pesticide use, therefore, represents an important source of diffuse chemical environmental inputs.
In principle, pesticides are registered for use only after they are demonstrated not to persist in the environment considerably beyond their intended period of use. Typically, documented soil half-lives are in the range of days to weeks. However, pesticide residues are found ubiquitously in the environment in ng/liter to low μg/liter concentrations. For instance, surveys of groundwater and not-yet-treated potable water in industrialized countries typically detect 10 to 20 substances in recurrent findings above the maximum accepted drinking water concentration for pesticides in many countries. About half of the detected substances are no longer in use and another 10 to 20% are stable transformation products.
Pesticide residues have been found in other realms. Transport from groundwater may lead to a low-level presence in surface waters. Pesticides have been detected in high-altitude regions, demonstrating sufficient persistence to survive transport across hundreds of kilometers in the atmosphere.
Degradation involves both biotic and abiotic transformation processes. Biotic transformation is mediated by microorganisms, while abiotic transformation involves processes such as chemical and photochemical reactions. The specific degradation processes for a given pesticide are determined by its structure and by the environmental conditions it experiences.
Official source
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