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.
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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134
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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90
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
Pesticides and herbicides are critical to ensuring food security worldwide, but these substances can present a safety risk to people who unwittingly ingest them. Protecting human health, therefore, demands sensitive analytical ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 7, 2024
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190
Crab shells might just have another role besides fodder for the compost bin. University of Maryland researchers have engineered a seafood-waste material that removes chemical pesticides and herbicides from produce and extends ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 22, 2024
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89
Researchers at Concordia have developed a new system using tiny nanosensors called carbon dots to detect the presence of the widely used chemical glyphosate. Their research, titled "Ratiometric Sensing of Glyphosate in Water ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 30, 2023
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101
Pouring flecks of rust into water usually makes it dirtier. But researchers have developed special iron oxide nanoparticles they call "smart rust" that actually makes it cleaner. Smart rust can attract many substances, including ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 16, 2023
0
241
