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The study reports the rapid synthesis of carbon nanospheres (CNSs) from Bacopa monnieri leaf biochar via microwave irradiation for the removal of the Pendimethalin (PND) herbicide from water. The synthesized CNSs were characterized by SEM-EDS mapping (morphology and elemental distribution), XRD (crystalline structure and elemental composition), FTIR (functional groups), Zeta potential (surface charge), BET (surface area), and BJH (pore volume). Batch-mode adsorption experiments were conducted under various conditions of PND concentration (30 to 70 mg L− 1), pH (2 to 12), contact time (0 to 120 min), and adsorbent dose (2.5 to 20 mg). The optimal removal of PND was 94.02%, achieved in 120 min at pH 10 with a PND concentration of 50 mg L-1 and a CNS dose of 10 mg. The presence of multivalent salt (CaCO3 and MgCO3) enhanced the removal efficiency through strong ionic interactions. Regeneration experiments demonstrated ~ 60% adsorption capacity after the 5th regeneration cycle. Adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and was fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich model with a maximum capacity of 63.62 mg g− 1, confirming multi-layered chemosorption and a pore-filling mechanism. The development of low-cost, biomass-derived CNSs for pesticide remediation aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) by improving water quality through sustainable, accessible treatment strategies.Graphical Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the pesticide residue concentrations and assess potential human health risks from fruit and vegetable consumption in Incheon. A total of 1,146 samples of 20 different types of fruits and vegetables were collected from the Incheon area in 2020. The pesticide residues were analyzed by the multi-residue method of the Korean Food Code for 400 different pesticides. Among the fruit and vegetable samples, 1,055 samples (92.1%) were free from detectable residues, while 91 samples (7.9%) contained residues and 11 samples (1.0%) had residues exceeding the Korean maximum residue limit. A total of 32 different pesticide residues were found and 8 residues exceeded MRLs. The most frequently detected pesticide residues were chlorfenapyr, procymidone, etofenprox, pendimethalin, fluopyram and azoxystrobin. The highest values of short term and long term exposure were obtained in the case of consumption of lettuce(leaves) with chlorfenpyr. For chronic dietary exposure, the cumulative hazard index (cHI) were below 100%. The results of this study showed that the detected pesticides were not exposed to potential health risks through the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

The critical timing of weed removal (CTWR) is the point in crop development when weed control must be initiated to prevent crop yield loss due to weed competition. A field study was conducted in 2018 and 2020 near Scottsbluff, NE, to determine how the use of preemergence herbicides affects the CTWR in dry bean. The experiment was arranged as a split plot, with herbicide treatment and weed removal timing as main and sub-plot factors, respectively. Herbicide treatments consisted of no-preemergence application, or pendimethalin (1,070 g ai ha–1) + dimethenamid-P (790 g ai ha–1) applied preemergence. Sub-plot treatments included season-long weed-free, weed removal at: V1, V3, V6, R2, and R5 dry bean growth stages, and a season-long weedy control. A four-parameter logistic model was used to estimate the impact of time of weed removal, for all response variables including dry bean yield, dry bean plants m–1 row, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and seed weight. The CTWR based on 5% yield reduction was estimated to range from the V1 growth stage [(16 d after emergence (DAE)] to the R1 growth stage (39 DAE) in the no-preemergence herbicide treatment. In the preemergence-applied treatment, the CTWR began at the R2 growth stage (47 DAE). Number of dry bean plants m–1 row was reduced in the no-preemergence treatment when weed removal was delayed beyond the R2 growth stage in the 2020 field season. The use of preemergence herbicides prevented a reduction in the number of pods per plant in 2020, and the number of seeds per pod in 2018 and 2020. In 2018, the number of pods per plant was reduced by 73% when no preemergence herbicide was applied, compared to 26% in the preemergence-applied treatment. The use of preemergence-applied soil-active herbicides in dry bean delayed the CTWR and preserved yield potential. Nomenclature: Pendimethalin; dimethenamid-P; dry bean; Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Occupational pesticide use is associated with lung cancer in some, but not all, epidemiologic studies. In the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), we previously reported positive associations between several pesticides and lung cancer incidence. We evaluated use of 43 pesticides and 654 lung cancer cases after 10 years of additional follow-up in the AHS, a prospective cohort study comprising 57,310 pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina. Information about lifetime pesticide use and other factors was ascertained at enrollment (1993-1997) and updated with a follow-up questionnaire (1999-2005). Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for smoking (smoking status and pack-years), sex, and lifetime days of use of any pesticides. Hazard ratios were elevated in the highest exposure category of lifetime days of use for pendimethalin (1.50; 95% CI: 0.98, 2.31), dieldrin (1.93; 95% CI: 0.70, 5.30), and chlorimuron ethyl (1.74; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.96), although monotonic exposure-response gradients were not evident. The HRs for intensity-weighted lifetime days of use of these pesticides were similar. For parathion, the trend was statistically significant for intensity-weighted lifetime days ( = 0.049) and borderline for lifetime days ( = 0.073). None of the remaining pesticides evaluated was associated with lung cancer incidence. These analyses provide additional evidence for an association between pendimethalin, dieldrin, and parathion use and lung cancer risk. We found an association between chlorimuron ethyl, a herbicide introduced in 1986, and lung cancer that has not been previously reported. Continued follow-up is warranted.

In modern agriculture, pesticides are used in combinations to protect crops. The co-existence of multiple pesticides in soil can threaten the soil biodiversity that maintains ecosystem services, hence further posing a long-term risk on food security. Here, we introduce an assessment of global soil contamination by the residue of pesticide mixtures in nine cropping systems using a fully mechanistic, spatially explicit, and time-resolved model at 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution (approximately 55 × 55 km at the equator) fed with georeferenced agricultural quantities, soil properties, and hydroclimatic variables. We found that 8.3 million km2 of treated land have more than one detectable pesticide, with pendimethalin, glyphosate, paraquat, chlorpyrifos, and chlorothalonil being the five most frequently detected. The highest pesticide mixture content was found in the ‘orchards and grapes’ cropping system (95th percentile at 7.3 mg kg soil−1). Globally, the pesticide mixture in the topsoil of approximately 1.88 million km2 exceeded 1 mg kg soil−1 for more than 180 d in a year. We estimate that 0.2 million tonnes of pesticides leach below the root zone each year globally, with glyphosate contributing the greatest fraction. The major hotspots of soil pesticide contamination are located in South America and Asia, mainly in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, China, Malaysia, and Japan. Our study shows that the accumulation of pesticide mixtures in soil is a global environmental issue that has to be explicitly accounted for in the sustainability assessment of agricultural production. We propose the use of mechanistic modelling as a tool to aid in designing pesticide management strategies and minimise residue contamination.

Dinitroanilines are microtubule inhibitors, targeting tubulin proteins in plants and protists. Dinitroaniline herbicides, such as trifluralin, pendimethalin and oryzalin, have been used as pre-emergence herbicides for weed control for decades. With widespread resistance to post-emergence herbicides in weeds, the use of pre-emergence herbicides such as dinitroanilines has increased, in part, due to relatively slow evolution of resistance in weeds to these herbicides. Target-site resistance (TSR) to dinitroaniline herbicides due to point mutations in α-tubulin genes has been confirmed in a few weedy plant species (e.g., Eleusine indica , Setaria viridis , and recently in Lolium rigidum ). Of particular interest is the resistance mutation Arg-243-Met identified from dinitroaniline-resistant L. rigidum that causes helical growth when plants are homozygous for the mutation. The recessive nature of the TSR, plus possible fitness cost for some resistance mutations, likely slows resistance evolution. Furthermore, non-target-site resistance (NTSR) to dinitroanilines has been rarely reported and only confirmed in Lolium rigidum due to enhanced herbicide metabolism (metabolic resistance). A cytochrome P450 gene (CYP81A10) has been recently identified in L. rigidum that confers resistance to trifluralin. Moreover, TSR and NTSR have been shown to co-exist in the same weedy species, population, and plant. The implication of knowledge and information on TSR and NTSR in management of dinitroaniline resistance is discussed.

Environmental health and food safety issues potentially caused by the dinitroaniline herbicide pendimethalin (PM) are a worldwide concern. The toxicity response of ginger and tissue accumulation effects of PM on ginger biomass were studied by utilizing PM (CK (clean water), PM1 (0.4%), PM2 (0.67%), PM3 (1.0%), and PM4 (1.67%)) in a dose–response study. It significantly reduced the biomass of ginger under PM4, which is attributed to root damage. The net photosynthetic rate of ginger under PM4 was 11.37% lower than that of CK, which is mainly caused by stomatal limitation. In addition, the ultrastructure of chloroplasts has changed. PM4 caused the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ginger. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) increased accordingly, maintaining the dynamic balance of ROS content. PM had no significant effect on the expression of ginger α-tubulin genes. PM was significantly accumulated in ginger roots, but not rhizomes. Si increased the productivity of ginger under PM4, which is mainly related to the increase of root development (root application of silicon) and photosynthetic efficiency (foliar application of silicon). Si reduced the ROS content due to the increase in SOD, POD, and catalase (CAT) activity and photosynthetic efficiency.

Recent declines in honey bees for crop pollination threaten fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States. A broad survey of pesticide residues was conducted on samples from migratory and other beekeepers across 23 states, one Canadian province and several agricultural cropping systems during the 2007–08 growing seasons. We have used LC/MS-MS and GC/MS to analyze bees and hive matrices for pesticide residues utilizing a modified QuEChERS method. We have found 121 different pesticides and metabolites within 887 wax, pollen, bee and associated hive samples. Almost 60% of the 259 wax and 350 pollen samples contained at least one systemic pesticide, and over 47% had both in-hive acaricides fluvalinate and coumaphos, and chlorothalonil, a widely-used fungicide. In bee pollen were found chlorothalonil at levels up to 99 ppm and the insecticides aldicarb, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid, fungicides boscalid, captan and myclobutanil, and herbicide pendimethalin at 1 ppm levels. Almost all comb and foundation wax samples (98%) were contaminated with up to 204 and 94 ppm, respectively, of fluvalinate and coumaphos, and lower amounts of amitraz degradates and chlorothalonil, with an average of 6 pesticide detections per sample and a high of 39. There were fewer pesticides found in adults and brood except for those linked with bee kills by permethrin (20 ppm) and fipronil (3.1 ppm). The 98 pesticides and metabolites detected in mixtures up to 214 ppm in bee pollen alone represents a remarkably high level for toxicants in the brood and adult food of this primary pollinator. This represents over half of the maximum individual pesticide incidences ever reported for apiaries. While exposure to many of these neurotoxicants elicits acute and sublethal reductions in honey bee fitness, the effects of these materials in combinations and their direct association with CCD or declining bee health remains to be determined.

Sicklepod [Senna obtusifolia (L.)] is one of the most problematic weed species for peanut production in the southeastern USA. A two‐year study was conducted to evaluate the influence of peanut planting date and row spacing on sicklepod growth. Planting date was the main plot factor with early (early May), mid‐ (mid‐May), or late (early June) timings. Row spacing was the subplot factor with single row and twin rows at 13, 18, or 23 cm. For minimal herbicide use, pendimethalin was applied at peanut planting and 2,4‐DB was applied at 6 wk after planting. Peanut on twin rows at 18 and 23 cm achieved canopy closure 2 wk earlier than the single or the 13‐cm twin‐row. In 2019, sicklepod height was similar across all planting dates, while in 2020 height decreased in the order of late > mid > early planting. Sicklepod biomass in early planting was greater compared with mid and late planting in 2019, whereas biomass was greater in late planting compared with early and mid‐planting in 2020. Peanut yield was 50% greater in early and mid‐planting compared with late planting in 2019, while yield was 18% lower in the single row compared with the twin rows in 2020. The differences between the two years were attributed to greater humidity and heavy rainfall during 2020 (137 cm) compared with the 2019 (77 cm) season. We conclude that peanut planted on 18‐ or 23‐cm twin rows during the mid‐planting date has the potential to maintain yield and suppress sicklepod. Core Ideas Peanut on 18‐ or 23‐cm twin rows provides earlier canopy closure than single or 13‐cm twin row. Peanut planting date influences sicklepod growth, but the effect can be environment dependent. Peanut row spacing did not influence sicklepod growth.

The persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to their physicochemical properties can be widely spread all over the globe; as such they represent a serious threat to both humans and wildlife. According to Stockholm convention out of 24 officially recognized POPs, 16 are pesticides. The atmospheric life times of pesticides, up to now were estimated based on their gas-phase reactivity. It has been only speculated that sorption to aerosol particles may increase significantly the half‐lives of pesticides in the atmosphere. The results presented here challenge the current view of the half-lives of pesticides in the lower boundary layer of the atmosphere and their impact on air quality and human health. We demonstrate that semivolatile pesticides which are mostly adsorbed on atmospheric aerosol particles are very persistent with respect to the highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (OH) that is the self-cleaning agent of the atmosphere. The half-lives in particulate phase of difenoconazole, tetraconazole, fipronil, oxadiazon, deltamethrin, cyprodinil, permethrin, and pendimethalin are in order of several days and even higher than one month, implying that these pesticides can be transported over long distances, reaching the remote regions all over the world; hence these pesticides shall be further evaluated prior to be confirmed as POPs.