Pesticide drift, also known as spray drift refers to the unintentional diffusion of pesticides toward nontarget species. It is one of the most negative effects of pesticide application. Drift can damage human health, environment, and crops. [1] [2] Together with runoff and leaching, drift is a mechanism for agricultural pollution. [3] Some drift results from contamination of sprayer tanks. [4]
Farmers struggle to minimize pesticide drift and remain productive. [5] Research continues on developing pesticides that are more selective, [6] but the current pesticides have been highly optimized.
Pesticides are commonly applied by the use of mechanical sprayers. Sprayers convert a pesticide formulation, often consisting of a mixture of water, the pesticide, and other components (adjuvants, for example) into droplets, which are applied to the crop. Ideally, the pesticide droplets attach evenly to the targeted crop. Because components of the mist are highly mobile, spray drift can occur, especially for smaller droplets. Some pesticides mists are visible, appearing cloud-like, while others can be invisible and odorless. [7] [8]
The quality of sprayer equipment affects drift problems. [9] [10] Sprayer tanks contaminated with another herbicide are one source of drift. [4] With placement (localised) spraying of broad spectrum pesticides, considerable efforts have been made to quantify and control spray drift from hydraulic nozzles. [11] Conversely, wind drift is also an efficient mechanism for moving droplets of an appropriate size range to their targets over a wide area with ultra-low volume (ULV) spraying. [12]
"Drift retardants" are compounds added to the spray mixture to suppress pesticide drift. A typical retardant is polyacrylamide. These polymers suppress the formation of tiny droplets. [13]
Weather conditions and timing affect the drift problem. [4] The efficiency of the spray and reach of the spray drift can be computed. [14] In addition to weather, windbreaks can mitigate the effects of drift. [15] Other ways to mitigate spray drift is to apply the pesticide directly to the desired treatment area, as well as paying attention to where surface waters, gutters, drainage ditches, and storm drains are located. This is to make sure that the pesticide is applied in a way that prevents it from getting in to these spaces. [16]
Most herbicides are organic compounds of low volatility, unlike fumigants, which are usually gases. Several are salts and others have boiling points above 100 °C (Dicamba is a solid that melts at 114°C). Thus, drift often entails mobilization of droplets, which can be very small. The contribution from their volatility, low as they are, cannot be ignored, either. [17]
A distinction has been made between "exo-drift" (the transfer of spray out of the target area) and endo-drift, where the active ingredient (AI) in droplets falls into the target area, but does not reach the biological target. "Endo-drift" is volumetrically more significant and may therefore cause greater ecological contamination (e.g. where chemical pesticides pollute ground water). [18]
Since drift can be problematic, alternative weed-control technologies have evolved. A topical approach is integrated pest management, which involves fewer chemicals but often greater manual work. [19]
Dicamba drift is a particular problem, as has been recognized since at least 1979. [20] The effects have been noted for many crops: grapes, tomatoes, soybeans. [21] [22] In 2017, Dicamba-resistant soybeans and cotton were approved for use in the US. This new technology worsened the drift problem because these farmers could use Dicamba more freely. [23]
Although already low in volatility, as discussed above, Dicamba can be made even less volatile by conversion to various salts. The approach entails treatment of Dicamba with amines, which form ammonium salts. These salts are described by their acronyms BAPMA-Dicamba and DGA-Dicamba. Although these salts are of lower volatility in laboratory tests, in the field the situation is more complicated, and drift remains a problem. [17]
Much public concern has led to research into spray drift, point source pollution (e.g. pesticides entering bodies of water following spillage of concentrate or rinsate) can also cause environmental harm. [24] Public concern for pesticide drift is not met with regulatory response. [18] Farm workers and communities surrounding large farms are at a high risk of coming in contact with pesticides. People in agricultural areas are at risk for increased genotoxicity because of pesticide drift. [25] [26]
Insecticides sprayed on crop fields can also have detrimental effects on non-human lifeforms that are important to the surrounding ecosystems like bees and other insects. [27]
The seriousness of crop injury caused by dicamba drift is increasingly being recognized. For example, the American Soybean Association and various land-grant universities are cooperating in the race to find ways to preserve the usability of dicamba while ending drift injury. [28] Application of herbicides later in the season to protect herbicide-resistant genetically modified plants increases the risk of volatilisation as the temperature is higher and incorporation into the soil impractical. [7]
From 1998 to 2006, Environmental Health Perspectives found nearly 3,000 cases of pesticide drift; nearly half were workers on the fields treated with pesticides and 14% of cases were children under the age of 15. [29]
Bystander exposure describes the event when individuals unintentionally come in contact with airborne pesticides. Bystanders include workers working in an area separate to the pesticide application area, individuals living in the surrounding areas of an application area, or individuals passing by fields as they are being treated with a pesticide. [30]
Different pesticides can affect different body systems, inflicting different symptoms. [31] Pesticides can have long-term negative health impacts, including cancer, lung diseases, fertility and reproductive problems, and neurodevelopmental issues in children, when exposure levels are high enough. [32]
In 2001, the United States Environmental Protection Agency published a guidance to "manufacturers, formulators, and registrants of pesticide products" (EPA 2001) [33] that stated the EPA's stance against pesticide drift as well as suggested product labelling practices.
To try and reduce pesticide drift, the EPA is a part of several initiatives. The EPA has routine pesticide risk assessments to check potential drift impact on farmworkers living near or on fields where crops are grown, farmworkers, water sources, and the environment. [34] The USDA and EPA are working together to examine new studies and how to improve scientific models to estimate the exposure, risk, and drift of pesticides. [34] The EPA is also working with pesticide manufacturers to ensure labels are easy to read, contain the correct application process and DRT for that specific pesticide. [35] [36]
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others. The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all pesticide use globally. Most pesticides are used as plant protection products, which in general protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species.
Herbicides, also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds. Selective herbicides control specific weed species while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed, while non-selective herbicides kill plants indiscriminately. The combined effects of herbicides, nitrogen fertilizer, and improved cultivars has increased yields of major crops by 3x to 6x from 1900 to 2000.
Roundup is a brand name of herbicide originally produced by Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018. Prior to the late-2010s formulations, it used broad-spectrum glyphosate-based herbicides. As of 2009, sales of Roundup herbicides still represented about 10 percent of Monsanto's revenue despite competition from Chinese producers of other glyphosate-based herbicides. The overall Roundup line of products represented about half of Monsanto's yearly revenue in 2009. The product is marketed to consumers by Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. In the late-2010s other non-glyphosate containing herbicides were also sold under the Roundup brand.
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by inhibiting the plant enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP). It is used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crops. Its herbicidal effectiveness was discovered by Monsanto chemist John E. Franz in 1970. Monsanto brought it to market for agricultural use in 1974 under the trade name Roundup. Monsanto's last commercially relevant United States patent expired in 2000.
A pesticide poisoning occurs when pesticides, chemicals intended to control a pest, affect non-target organisms such as humans, wildlife, plants, or bees. There are three types of pesticide poisoning. The first of the three is a single and short-term very high level of exposure which can be experienced by individuals who die by suicide, as well as pesticide formulators. The second type of poisoning is long-term high-level exposure, which can occur in pesticide formulators and manufacturers. The third type of poisoning is a long-term low-level exposure, which individuals are exposed to from sources such as pesticide residues in food as well as contact with pesticide residues in the air, water, soil, sediment, food materials, plants and animals.
Paraquat (trivial name; ), or N,N′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride (systematic name), also known as methyl viologen, is an organic compound with the chemical formula [(C6H7N)2]Cl2. It is classified as a viologen, a family of redox-active heterocycles of similar structure. This salt is one of the most widely used herbicides. It is quick-acting and non-selective, killing green plant tissue on contact. It is also toxic (lethal) to human beings and animals due to its redox activity, which produces superoxide anions. It has been linked to the development of Parkinson's disease and is banned in 58 countries.
Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known as aerial topdressing in some countries. Many countries have severely limited aerial application of pesticides and other products because of environmental and public health hazards like spray drift; most notably, the European Union banned it outright with a few highly restricted exceptions in 2009, effectively ending the practice in all member states.
Diquat is the ISO common name for an organic dication that, as a salt with counterions such as bromide or chloride is used as a contact herbicide that produces desiccation and defoliation. Diquat is no longer approved for use in the European Union, although its registration in many other countries including the USA is still valid.
Phenoxy herbicides are two families of chemicals that have been developed as commercially important herbicides, widely used in agriculture. They share the part structure of phenoxyacetic acid.
Glufosinate is a naturally occurring broad-spectrum herbicide produced by several species of Streptomyces soil bacteria. Glufosinate is a non-selective, contact herbicide, with some systemic action. Plants may also metabolize bialaphos and phosalacine, other naturally occurring herbicides, directly into glufosinate. The compound irreversibly inhibits glutamine synthetase, an enzyme necessary for the production of glutamine and for ammonia detoxification, giving it antibacterial, antifungal and herbicidal properties. Application of glufosinate to plants leads to reduced glutamine and elevated ammonia levels in tissues, halting photosynthesis and resulting in plant death.
Pendimethalin is an herbicide of the dinitroaniline class used in premergence and postemergence applications to control annual grasses and certain broadleaf weeds. It inhibits cell division and cell elongation. Pendimethalin is listed in the K1-group according to the Herbicide Resistance Action Committee (HRAC) classification and is approved in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania for different crops including cereals, corn, soybeans, rice, potato, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts as well as lawns and ornamental plants.
Dicamba is a selective systemic herbicide first registered in 1967. Brand names for formulations of this herbicide include Dianat, Banvel, Diablo, Oracle and Vanquish. This chemical compound is a chlorinated derivative of o-anisic acid. It has been described as a "widely used, low-cost, environmentally friendly herbicide that does not persist in soils and shows little or no toxicity to wildlife and humans."
Pesticide application refers to the practical way in which pesticides are delivered to their biological targets. Public concern about the use of pesticides has highlighted the need to make this process as efficient as possible, in order to minimise their release into the environment and human exposure. The practice of pest management by the rational application of pesticides is supremely multi-disciplinary, combining many aspects of biology and chemistry with: agronomy, engineering, meteorology, socio-economics and public health, together with newer disciplines such as biotechnology and information science.
Ultra-low volume (ULV) application of pesticides has been defined as spraying at a Volume Application Rate (VAR) of less than 5 L/ha for field crops or less than 50 L/ha for tree/bush crops. VARs of 0.25 – 2 L/ha are typical for aerial ULV application to forest or migratory pests. In order to maintain efficacy at such low rates, droplet size must be rigorously controlled in order to minimise waste: this is Controlled Droplet Application (CDA). Although often designed for non-evaporative formulations, ULV equipment may sometimes be adapted for use with water, often at Very Low volume VAR.
The environmental effects of pesticides describe the broad series of consequences of using pesticides. The unintended consequences of pesticides is one of the main drivers of the negative impact of modern industrial agriculture on the environment. Pesticides, because they are toxic chemicals meant to kill pest species, can affect non-target species, such as plants, animals and humans. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, because they are sprayed or spread across entire agricultural fields. Other agrochemicals, such as fertilizers, can also have negative effects on the environment.
Bromacil is an organic compound with the chemical formula C9H13BrN2O2, commercially available as a herbicide. Bromacil was first registered as a pesticide in the U.S. in 1961. It is used for brush control on non-cropland areas. It works by interfering with photosynthesis by entering the plant through the root zone and moving throughout the plant. Bromacil is one of a group of compounds called substituted uracils. These materials are broad spectrum herbicides used for nonselective weed and brush control on non-croplands, as well as for selective weed control on a limited number of crops, such as citrus fruit and pineapple. Bromacil is also found to be excellent at controlling perennial grasses.
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula Cl2C6H3OCH2CO2H. It is usually referred to by its ISO common name 2,4-D. It is a systemic herbicide that kills most broadleaf weeds by causing uncontrolled growth, but most grasses such as cereals, lawn turf, and grassland are relatively unaffected.
Bentazon is a chemical manufactured by BASF Chemicals for use in herbicides. It is categorized under the thiadiazine group of chemicals. Sodium bentazon is available commercially and appears slightly brown in colour.
The Enlist Weed Control System is an agricultural system that includes seeds for genetically modified crops that are resistant to Enlist and the Enlist herbicide; spraying the herbicide will kill weeds but not the resulting crop. The system was developed by Dow AgroSciences, part of Dow Chemical Company. In October 2014 the system was registered for restricted use in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin by the US Environmental Protection Agency. In 2013, the system was approved by Canada for the same uses.
Glyphosate-based herbicides are usually made of a glyphosate salt that is combined with other ingredients that are needed to stabilize the herbicide formula and allow penetration into plants. The glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s. It is used most heavily on corn, soy, and cotton crops that have been genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide. Some products include two active ingredients, such as Enlist Duo which includes 2,4-D as well as glyphosate. As of 2010, more than 750 glyphosate products were on the market. The names of inert ingredients used in glyphosate formulations are usually not listed on the product labels.
This issue...