ARS | Publication request: Pesticide emissions from soil

Submitted to: Outlooks on Pest Management
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: January 20, 2013
Publication Date: February 1, 2013
Repository URL: http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/53102000/pdf_pubs/P2423.pdf
Citation: Ashworth, D.J., Luo, L., Yates, S.R. 2013. Pesticide emissions from soil – fate and predictability. Outlooks on Pest Management. 24:4-7.

Technical Abstract: The use of pesticides is an essential component of modern agriculture enabling farmers to meet the need for a safe, adequate food supply. However, care must be taken in the use of such pesticides due to their potential to cause environmental contamination. One aspect of this contamination is the volatilization of pesticides and their transport from soil to air. Subsequent potential effects on air quality and human health have been reported and suggest that quantifying both the potential for pesticides to contaminate air, and the effectiveness of emission reduction strategies, are important research needs. Although field and laboratory experimental approaches are highly effective means of quantifying emissions, these methods are expensive, time consuming and cannot fully account for differences in environmental conditions across sites. Model simulation and prediction approaches therefore offer an effective compromise and have been shown to effectively simulate field and laboratory data. These findings also suggest that such models are potentially powerful tools for developing best management practices for reducing pesticide emissions.