Evaluation of the Environmental Exposure Risks of Pesticides Used in Vegetable Production in Türkiye

Abstract

In this study, first, a list of pesticides that can potentially pose environmental exposure risks was compiled by analyzing the recent literature on residue levels in fresh vegetables produced in Türkiye. Then, by using the fundamental environmental partitioning properties of these pesticides, their potential multi-media environmental distributions were assessed. Acetamiprid, chlorpyrifos, and pyridaben were among the pesticides that frequently exceeded the residual limit values. Multi-media environmental modeling was conducted for these three pesticides using an evaluative four-compartment (air, soil, water, sediment) model. Compartmental distributions, inter-compartmental mass transfer rates, advective, and reactive losses were estimated for the selected pesticides after their simulated application to soil. The ranking of overall persistence among the pesticides was found to be pyridaben > chlorpyrifos > acetamiprid. The percentage mass distribution of acetamiprid in water was higher due to its low volatility and high solubility. The overall persistence of chlorpyrifos was limited by its higher partitioning to air although it is more persistent than pyridaben in other compartments. To investigate the residue dynamics of the three pesticides in tomato crops, temporal changes in harvest fractions were compared using the regression equations of the crop model dynamiCROP. Acetamiprid was estimated to be taken up at higher rates in tomatoes after initial application. The residue dynamics of chlorpyrifos and pyridaben were found to be similar. The quantitative methods in this study can be used to assess the environmental risks associated with commonly used pesticides in Türkiye and to address the issue of exceeding residue limits in agricultural products.