Environmental Fate and Sustainable Management of Pesticides in Soils: A Critical Review Focusing on Sustainable Agriculture

Aniruddha Sarker (), Do Kim and Won-Tae Jeong ()
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Aniruddha Sarker: Residual Chemical Assessment Division, Department of Agro-Food Safety and Crop Protection, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju 55356, Republic of Korea
Do Kim: Residual Chemical Assessment Division, Department of Agro-Food Safety and Crop Protection, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju 55356, Republic of Korea
Won-Tae Jeong: Residual Chemical Assessment Division, Department of Agro-Food Safety and Crop Protection, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju 55356, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-25

Abstract: Pesticides are inevitable agrochemicals employed as plant protection agents and their application follows good agricultural practice (GAP). Although pesticides are primarily used for plant protection purposes, the residual pesticides may pose a threat to the next crops and/or off-target biota. Another important aspect of applied pesticides is the transformation into toxic metabolites. As a result, misuse or overuse of pesticides can lead to raised residual uncertainty, hidden risk of transformed metabolites, and potential risk to off-target biota. As per pesticide safety guidelines, regulations for the maximum limit of residual pesticides, addressing toxic metabolites derived from parent pesticides, and managing the potential risk of pesticides for off-targets are considered vital components. Despite the countable number of studies that have already been published on pesticide fate, residual risk, and metabolism in soils and plants, several vital research gaps remain untouched. In this study, the vital research gap of pesticide fate and transport is explored through vital keyword searches, followed by sorting of relevant articles using scholarly search engines. According to the study outcomes, residual uncertainty, secondary pollution, diversified fate and transport, and toxic metabolites, including their persistence, were detected as key research pitfalls. Thus, this paper critically addresses the current trends and research gaps and suggests specific recommendations for pesticide fate and potential risk studies.

Keywords: pesticide fate; metabolites; residual uncertainty; pesticide risk; persistence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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