Exposure assessment of pesticides in a shallow groundwater of the Tagus vulnerable zone (Portugal): a multivariate statistical approach (JCA)

Purpose

To assess groundwater exposure to pesticides, in agricultural areas of ??Ribatejo?? region (Portugal), and the influence of some key factors in that exposure, field, laboratory and modelling studies were carried out.

Methods

The study was performed in maize, potato, sugar beet, tomato and vegetables agricultural areas, located in a shallow aquifer, with pesticides use and, in most cases, with irrigation practices. Pesticides used in the studied agricultural areas and having leaching potential were selected, being considered also other pesticides included in priority lists, defined in Europe. Evaluation of groundwater exposure to pesticides was carried out by successively: (1) groundwater sampling in seven campaigns over the period 2004?C2006; (2) pesticide analysis [including isolation and concentration from the groundwater samples and further determination by gas chromatography?Cmass spectrometry (GC?CMS) of 14 herbicides, four insecticides and two metabolites]; and (3) analysis and discussion of the results by applying joint correspondence analysis (JCA).

Results

From the 20 pesticides and metabolites selected for the study, 11 were found in groundwater. Pesticides and metabolites most frequently detected were atrazine, alachlor, metolachlor, desethylatrazine, ethofumesate, ??-endosulfan, metribuzine, lindane and ??-endosulfan. The results showed that groundwater exposure to pesticides is influenced by local factors??either environmental or agricultural, as precipitation, soil, geology, crops and irrigation practices. Spring and autumn were more associated with the detection of pesticides being more likely to observe mixtures of these compounds in a groundwater sample in these transition seasons.

Conclusions

This work evidences the importance of models, which evaluate pesticides environmental behaviour, namely their water contamination potential (as Mackay multicompartimental fugacity model) and, specially, groundwater contamination potential (as GUS and Bacci and Gaggi leaching indices), in pesticide selection. Moreover, it reveals the importance to adapt proper statistical methods according to level of left-censored data. Using JCA was still possible to establish relations between pesticides and their temporal trend in a case study where there were more than 80% of data censored. This study will contribute to the Tagus river basin management plan with information on the patterns of pesticide occurrence in the alluvial aquifer system.     

Agricultural landscapes as multi-scale public good and the role of the Common Agricultural Policy

During the last 50 years, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has impacted the evolution of European agricultural landscapes by driving changes in land use and farming practices. We propose a typology characterising the scales relevant for agricultural landscapes management and argue that action is required on three scales: (1) a landscape oriented management at the farm level; (2) the coordination of land managers’ actions at the landscape level; and (3) the conservation of the diversity of agricultural landscapes in the EU. We provide evidence that until now the CAP has mainly focused on the first scale. We also illustrate how agricultural policy could encourage coordinated actions at the landscape- and EU-scales. In particular, we propose policy instruments to coordinate actions of individual land owners (e.g. collective bonus in agro-environmental contracts or support to environmental cooperatives (scale 2)). We also analyse how the recognition and transposition of the European Landscape Convention could promote trans-frontier landscape cooperation in order, not only to conserve high-quality rural landscapes, but also to ensure the conservation of the diversity of EU landscapes (scale 3). This paper provides a knowledge base to support an integrated CAP design in the direction of improved landscape management, as an important component of the EU project towards more sustainable agriculture.     

Feeding by larvae of intertidal invertebrates: assessing their position in pelagic food webs

One of the leading determinants of the structure and dynamics of marine populations is the rate of arrival of new individuals to local sites. While physical transport processes play major roles in delivering larvae to the shore, these processes become most important after larvae have survived the perils of life in the plankton, where they usually suffer great mortality. The lack of information regarding larval feeding makes it difficult to assess the effects of food supply on larval survival, or the role larvae may play in nearshore food webs. Here, we examine the spectrum of food sizes and food types consumed by the larvae of two intertidal barnacle species and of the predatory gastropod Concholepas concholepas. We conducted replicated experiments in which larvae were exposed to the food size spectrum (phytoplankton, microprotozoan and autotrophic picoplankton) found in nearshore waters in central Chile. Results show that barnacle nauplii and gastropod veligers are omnivorous grazers, incorporating significant fractions of heterotrophs in their diets. In accordance with their feeding mechanisms and body size, barnacle nauplii were able to feed on autotrophic picoplankton (<5 microm) and did not consume the largest phytoplankton cells, which made the bulk of phytoplankton biomass in spring-summer blooms. Balanoid nauplii exhibited higher ingestion rates than the smaller-bodied chthamaloid larvae. Newly hatched C. concholepas larvae also consumed picoplankton cells, while competent larvae of this species ingested mostly the largest phytoplankton cells and heterotrophic protozoans. Results suggest that persistent changes in the structure of pelagic food webs can have important effects on the species-specific food availability for invertebrate larvae, which can result in large-scale differences in recruitment rates of a given species, and in the relative recruitment success of the different species that make up benthic communities.     

An in situ postexposure feeding assay with Carcinus maenas for estuarine sediment-overlying water toxicity evaluations

This study developed and evaluated a short-term sublethal in situ toxicity assay for estuarine sediment-overlying waters, with the crab Carcinus maenas (L.) based on postexposure feeding. It consisted of a 48-h in situ exposure period followed by a short postexposure feeding period (30 min). A precise method for quantifying feeding, using the Polychaeta Hediste (Nereis) diversicolor Müller as food source, was first developed. The sensitivity of the postexposure feeding response was verified by comparing it to that of lethality, upon cadmium exposure. The influence of environmental conditions prevailing during exposure (salinity, temperature, substrate, light regime, and food availability) on postexposure feeding was also addressed. The potential of this in situ assay was then investigated by deploying organisms at ten sites, located in reference and contaminated Portuguese estuaries. Organism recovery ranged between 90% and 100% and a significant postexposure feeding depression (16.3-72.7%) was observed at all contaminated sites relatively to references.     

Life-cycle inventory for hydroelectric generation: a Brazilian case study

Representative Life-Cycle Inventories (LCIs) are essential for Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) quality and readiness. Because energy is such an important element of LCAs, appropriate LCIs on energy are crucial, and due to the prevalence of hydropower on Brazilian electricity mix, the frequently used LCIs are not representative of the Brazilian conditions. The present study developed a LCI of the Itaipu Hydropower Plant, the major hydropower plant in the world, responsible for producing 23.8% of Brazil's electricity consumption. Focused on the capital investments to construct and operate the dam, the LCI was designed to serve as a database for the LCAs of Brazilian hydroelectricity production. The life-cycle boundaries encompass the construction and operation of the dam, as well as the life-cycles of the most important material and energy consumptions (cement, steel, copper, diesel oil, lubricant oil), as well as construction site operation, emissions from reservoir flooding, material and workers transportation, and earthworks. As a result, besides the presented inventory, it was possible to determine the following processes, and respective environmental burdens as the most important life-cycle hotspots: reservoir filling (CO₂ and CH₄ emission; land use); steel life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO, particulates, SO_x and NO_x emissions); cement life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO₂ and particulate emissions); and operation of civil construction machines (diesel consumption; NO_x emissions). Compared with another hydropower studies, the LCI showed magnitude adequacy, with better results than small hydropower, which reveals a scale economy for material and energy exchanges in the case of Itaipu Power Plant.     

Effect of solid waste landfill organic pollutants on groundwater in three areas of Sicily (Italy) characterized by different vulnerability

The aim of this study was to obtain information on the presence and levels of hazardous organic pollutants in groundwater located close to solid waste landfills. Eighty-two environmental contaminants, including 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 20 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 29 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, PCDDs) and 10 furans (polychlorinated dibenzofurans, PCDFs) were monitored in areas characterised by different geological environments surrounding three municipal solid waste landfills (Palermo, Siculiana and Ragusa) in Sicily (Italy) in three sampling campaigns. The total concentrations of the 16 PAHs were always below the legal threshold. Overall, the Fl/Fl + Py diagnostic ratio revealed that PAHs had a petrogenic origin. VOC levels, except for two notable exceptions near Palermo landfill, were always below the legal limit. As concerns PCB levels, several samples were found positive with levels exceeding the legal limits. It is worth noting that the % PCB distribution differs from that of commercial compositions. In parallel, some samples of groundwater containing PCDDs and PCDFs exceeding the legal threshold were also found. Among the 17 congeners monitored, the most abundant were the highest molecular weight ones.

     

Error propagation in pesticide residue measurements estimated by computational simulations and inter-laboratory sample analysis

An assessment of the error associated with conventional pesticide residue analysis has been conducted based on computer simulations and inter-laboratory residue analysis. Computational simulations were conducted based on (i) typical performance and regulatory acceptance criteria of analytical methods, and (ii) field residue distributions. In addition, field samples with incurred residues were sent to different private laboratories and the results compared. The relative difference in pesticide residues obtained when samples from the same field or produce lot are analyzed at separate laboratories was used to quantify the uncertainty associated with residue analyses performed using common analytical technology, and methods that are in compliance with current regulatory requirements. The study showed that differences of > 100% are common and should be expected when samples from the same crop are analyzed at different laboratories. The results also suggest that the error within residue measurements can be particularly detrimental when a result is reported near the maximum residue limit (MRL).     

New public policy proposal for the management of industrial toxic substances in São Paulo State,Brazil

In order to find out an alternative to traditional environmental policies in the State of São Paulo (Brazil), which have been mainly focused on legal standard compliance for air and water emissions, as well as in soil contamination, the Environmental Agency of São Paulo State — CETESB — launched a research project entitled Industrial Toxic Substances Use Reduction Programme. The project was launched in 2006 with funding from the United States Trade and Development Agency. Its aim was to propose new policies and strategies to reduce industrial releases of toxic compounds to the environment. Its general steps were the identification of an initial toxic chemical targets list; a review of successful programmes in the United States; the development of key elements and the establishment of alternative combinations of those elements for the implementation of an indigenous programme. Since project completion, CETESB has been discussing the possibility of implementing the results through a pilot project being developed jointly with industry representatives. This pilot project will serve as a model for a broader industrial toxic substances reduction programme to be implemented in São Paulo State.