Pesticides entering agricultural surface waters threaten water quality and aquatic communities. Recently, vegetated treatment systems (VTSs) (e.g., constructed wetlands and vegetated ditches) have been proposed as pesticide risk mitigation measures. However, little is known about the effectiveness of VTSs in controlling nonpoint source pesticide pollution and factors relevant for pesticide retention within these systems. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis on pesticide mitigation by VTSs using data from the scientific literature and the European LIFE ArtWET project. Overall, VTSs effectively reduced pesticide exposure levels (i.e., the majority of pesticide retention performances was >70%). A multiple linear regression analysis of 188 retention performance cases identified the two pesticide properties, organic carbon sorption coefficient value and water-phase 50% dissipation time, as well as the VTS characteristics overall plant coverage and hydraulic retention time for targeting high efficacy of pesticide retention. The application of a Tier I risk assessment (EU Uniform Principle) revealed a higher toxicity reduction for hydrophobic and nonpersistent insecticides compared with less sorptive and not readily degradable herbicides and fungicides. Overall, nearly half (48.5%) of all pesticide field concentrations ( = 130) failed Tier I standard risk assessment at the inlet of VTSs, and 29.2% of all outlet concentrations exceeded conservative acute threshold levels. We conclude that VTSs are a suitable and effective risk mitigation strategy for agricultural nonpoint source pesticide pollution of surface waters. Further research is needed to improve their overall efficacy in retaining pesticides.

International audienceContamination caused by pesticides in agriculture is a source of environmental poor water quality in some of the European Union countries. Without treatment or targeted mitigation, this pollution is diffused in the environment. Pesticides and some metabolites are of increasing concern because of their potential impacts on the environment, wildlife and human health. Within the context of the European Union (EU) water framework directive context to promote low pesticide-input farming and best management practices, the EU LIFE project ArtWET assessed the efficiency of ecological bioengineering methods using different artificial wetland (AW) prototypes throughout Europe. We optimized physical and biological processes to mitigate agricultural nonpoint-source pesticide pollution in artificial wetland ecosystems. Mitigation solutions were implemented at full-scale demonstration and experimental sites. We tested various bioremediation methods at seven experimental sites. These sites involved (1) experimental prototypes, such as vegetated ditches, a forest microcosm and 12 wetland mesocosms, and (2) demonstration prototypes: vegetated ditches, three detention ponds enhanced with technology of constructed wetlands, an outdoor bioreactor and a biomassbed. This set up provides a variety of hydrologic conditions, with some systems permanently flooded and others temporarily flooded. It also allowed to study the processes both in field and controlled conditions. In order to compare the efficiency of the wetlands, mass balances at the inlet and outlet of the artificial wetland will be used, taking into account the partition of the studied compound in water, sediments, plants, and suspended solids. The literature background necessary to harmonize the interdisciplinary work is reviewed here and the theoretical framework regarding pesticide removal mechanisms in artificial wetland is discussed. The development and the implementation of innovative approaches concerning various water quality sampling strategies for pesticide load estimates during flood, specific biological endpoints, innovative bioprocess applied to herbicide and copper mitigation to enhance the pesticide retention time within the artificial wetland, fate and transport using a 2D mixed hybrid finite element model are introduced. These future results will be useful to optimize hydraulic functioning, e.g., pesticide resident time, and biogeochemical conditions, e.g., dissipation, inside the artificial wetlands. Hydraulic retention times are generally too low to allow an optimized adsorption on sediment and organic materials accumulated in artificial wetlands. Absorption by plants is not either effective. The control of the hydraulic design and the use of adsorbing materials can be useful to increase the pesticides residence time and the contact between pesticides and biocatalyzers. Pesticide fluxes can be reduced by 50-80% when hydraulic pathways in artificial wetlands are optimized by increasing ten times the retention time, by recirculation of w...

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract