A Dieldrin Case Study: Another Evidence of an Obsolete Substance in the European Soil Environment

Abstract

Soil constitutes a central environmental compartment that, due to natural and anthropogenic activities, is a recipient of several contaminants. Among them, organochlorine pesticides are of major concern, even though they have been banned decades ago in the European Union, due to their persistence and the health effects they can elicit. In the presented work, a gas chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (GC-MS/MS) developed method was applied to soil samples after the suspected and potential use of formulations containing organochlorine active substance. One soil sample was positive to dieldrin at 0.018 mg kg−1. Predicted environmental concentration in soil (PECsoil) considering a single application of this active substance potentially attributed the finding in its past use. The subsequent health risk assessment showed negligible non-carcinogenic risk and tolerable carcinogenic risk. The latter signifies that repetitive and prolonged sampling can unveil the pragmatic projection of persistent chemicals’ residues in the soil.

Role of Crop-Protection Technologies in Sustainable Agricultural Productivity and Management

“…The protection technologies in sustainable agricultural productivity and management are categorized into three large groups, which in fact have no clear boundaries between them: (1) chemical crop-protection techniques, (2) biological crop-protection techniques and (3) mechanical crop-protection techniques (Figure 1). Among the areas of research that have received the most attention is the increasingly intensive use of chemical pesticides to control pests, which unfortunately can remain in the soil for decades after application and pose serious health risks [33][34][35][36]. Integrated pest management (IPM) and the use of biocontrol solutions are experiencing wider acceptance by citizens and research investments, as new alternative ways to achieve sustainable control solutions [28,[37][38][39][40].…”

“…To address the current challenges of modern agriculture in recent times, advanced materials have been used for the construction of environmentally friendly nanoplatforms with excellent properties for sustainable agricultural development. Thus, the field of nanotechnology is within the studied field and has gained particular interest in the ag- Among the areas of research that have received the most attention is the increasingly intensive use of chemical pesticides to control pests, which unfortunately can remain in the soil for decades after application and pose serious health risks [33][34][35][36]. Integrated pest management (IPM) and the use of biocontrol solutions are experiencing wider acceptance by citizens and research investments, as new alternative ways to achieve sustainable control solutions [28,[37][38][39][40].…”

Improving the Authorization of Microbial Biological Control Products (MBCP) in the European Union within the EU Green Deal Framework

“…As environmental degradation and climate change top our global agenda, agriculture's impact on the environment becomes more and more scrutinized [1][2][3], and the goal to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system has become part of the EU Green Deal [4]. Among the areas that received the most attention is the ever more intensive use of chemical pesticides for pest control, which can persist in the soil decades after application and generate health risks [5]. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the employment of biocontrol solutions receive the most public attention and research investment as means to generate sustainable alternatives [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Comparison of the Effectiveness, Kinetics and Costs of Three Remediation Techniques for Agricultural Soils Historically Contaminated with Dieldrin, Using Laboratory Experiments

“…In France, Dieldrin was banned in agriculture in 1972, but its complete ban on marketing and use did not come until 1992 (INRS, 2007). However, fifty years after its prohibition, Dieldrin is still present in soil and continue to be a potential source of contamination especially for vegetable, with contamination at concentrations exceeding Maximum Residue Level (MRL) fixed by regulatory institutions (Namiki et al, 2018(Namiki et al, , 2015Saito et al, 2011;Tsiantas et al, 2021). There is thus a need of soil remediation for these contaminated agricultural soils.…”