Particularities of Fungicides and Factors Affecting Their Fate and Removal Efficacy: A Review

Georgios D. Gikas, Paraskevas Parlakidis, Theodoros Mavropoulos and Zisis Vryzas
Additional contact information
Georgios D. Gikas: Laboratory of Ecological Engineering and Technology, Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Paraskevas Parlakidis: Laboratory of Agricultural Pharmacology and Ecotoxicology, Department of Agricultural Development, Democritus University of Thrace, 68200 Orestias, Greece
Theodoros Mavropoulos: Laboratory of Ecological Engineering and Technology, Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Zisis Vryzas: Laboratory of Agricultural Pharmacology and Ecotoxicology, Department of Agricultural Development, Democritus University of Thrace, 68200 Orestias, Greece

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: Systemic fungicide use has increased over the last decades, despite the susceptibility of resistance development and the side effects to human health and the environment. Although herbicides and insecticides are detected more frequently in environmental samples, there are many fungicides that have the ability to enter water bodies due to their physicochemical properties and their increasing use. Key factors affecting fungicide fate in the environment have been discussed, including the non-target effects of fungicides. For instance, fungicides are associated with the steep decline in bumblebee populations. Secondary actions of certain fungicides on plants have also been reported recently. In addition, the use of alternative eco-friendly disease management approaches has been described. Constructed Wetlands (CWs) comprise an environmentally friendly, low cost, and efficient fungicide remediation technique. Fungicide removal within CWs is dependent on plant uptake and metabolism, absorption in porous media and soil, hydrolysis, photodegradation, and biodegradation. Factors related to the efficacy of CWs on the removal of fungicides, such as the type of CW, plant species, and the physicochemical parameters of fungicides, are also discussed in this paper. There are low-environmental-risk fungicides, phytohormones and other compounds, which could improve the removal performance of CW vegetation. In addition, specific parameters such as the multiple modes of action of fungicides, side effects on substrate microbial communities and endophytes, and plant physiological response were also studied. Prospects and challenges for future research are suggested under the prism of reducing the risk related to fungicides and enhancing CW performance.

Keywords: constructed wetlands; fungicides; water contamination; plant physiological responses; microbiome (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/4056/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/4056/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:4056-:d:782439

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().