Pesticide and herbicide contamination refers to the presence and persistence of synthetic or natural plant protection chemicals and their transformation products in environmental compartments such as soil, surface water, groundwater, sediments, air, and biota. Research on this topic examines sources (agricultural runoff, spray drift, leaching, improper disposal), transport and fate processes (sorption–desorption, volatilization, photolysis, hydrolysis, biodegradation), and bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food webs. It also encompasses mixture toxicity, sublethal and chronic effects on non-target organisms, development of resistance, and the use of monitoring, risk assessment frameworks, and remediation or mitigation strategies to manage and reduce ecological and human health risks.
Queensland scientists have pioneered a new method to assess the long-term risks posed by toxicants such as insecticides in rivers and the ocean.
Ecology
Jun 23, 2025
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15
Researchers led by Dr. Xu Mingkai from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have identified a highly effective microbial consortium capable of fully degrading acetochlor, a widely used and persistent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 20, 2025
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29
A decade after Connecticut implemented its 2010 ban on pesticide use on school grounds, a comprehensive three-part series, "Impacts of the 2010 Connecticut School Grounds Pesticide Ban a Decade Later," examines the long-term ...
Environment
Jun 19, 2025
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27
The global decline of wild bee populations is alarming. Landscapes characterized by intensive agriculture offer hardly any suitable habitats. Isolated local efforts are often not enough to counteract this loss.
Ecology
Jun 18, 2025
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28
Bacteria, viruses and fungi are masters at evolving new strategies to infiltrate plants and cause disease that harm crops. To get ahead of these pathogens, University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers like Dr. Valentyna ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 12, 2025
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64
Certain detergent additives known as aminopolyphosphonates can be transformed into glyphosate and other problematic substances when wastewater is treated.
Environment
May 14, 2025
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131
When farmers apply pesticides to their crops, 30 to 50% of the chemicals end up in the air or soil instead of on the plants. Now, a team of researchers from MIT and Singapore has developed a much more precise way to deliver ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 29, 2025
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89
Inactive ingredients in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and other common products have typically been excluded from consideration as potential contaminants in drinking water. However, while these chemicals are inert in certain ...
Environment
Apr 15, 2025
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120
Lead, pesticides, brominated flame retardants, plastic additives, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals. This is what researchers at Lund University in Sweden found in a new study when they collected dead hedgehogs ...
Environment
Apr 1, 2025
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23
A recent study by the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau shows extensive pesticide contamination in the landscape of the Upper Rhine Region. The research team led by Carsten Brühl shows for the first time that synthetic ...
Environment
Mar 12, 2025
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22
