Fate and availability of glyphosate and AMPA in agricultural soil

The fate of glyphosate and its degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was studied in soil. Labeled glyphosate was used to be able to distinguish the measured quantities of glyphosate and AMPA from the background values since the soil was sampled in a field where glyphosate had been used formerly. After addition of labeled glyphosate, the disappearance of glyphosate and the formation and disappearance of AMPA were monitored. The resulting curves were fitted according to a new EU guideline. The best fit of the glyphosate degradation data was obtained using a first-order multi compartment (FOMC) model. DT₅₀ values of 9 days (glyphosate) and 32 days (AMPA) indicated relatively rapid degradation. After an aging period of 6 months, the leaching risk of each residue was determined by treating the soil with pure water or a phosphate solution (pH 6), to simulate rain over a non-fertilized or fertilized field, respectively. Significantly larger (p < 0.05) amounts of aged glyphosate and AMPA were extracted from the soil when phosphate solution was used as an extraction agent, compared with pure water. This indicates that the risk of leaching of aged glyphosate and AMPA residues from soil is greater in fertilized soil. The blank soil, to which 252 g glyphosate/ha was applied 21 months before this study, contained 0.81 ng glyphosate/g dry soil and 10.46 ng AMPA/g dry soil at the start of the study. Blank soil samples were used as controls without glyphosate addition. After incubation of the blank soil samples for 6 months, a significantly larger amount of AMPA was extracted from the soil treated with phosphate solution than from that treated with pure water. To determine the degree of uptake of aged glyphosate residues by crops growing in the soil, ¹⁴C-labeled glyphosate was applied to soil 6.5 months prior to sowing rape and barley seeds. After 41 days, 0.006 ± 0.002% and 0.005 ± 0.001% of the applied radioactivity was measured in rape and barley, respectively.     

Health risks of residential wood heat

The resurgence in the use of wood in the United States for residential heating has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in deaths and injuries from residential fires. Toxic materials present in woodsmoke also appear to present a significant public health hazard. As a result of these factors, production of residential wood heat can be up to two orders of magnitude more hazardous than generation of an equivalent amount of electric energy at a coal-fired power plant. Proper care in installation and operation of wood stoves, as well as technological innovations that control wood-stove emissions, can greatly reduce the health and safety hazards of residential heating with wood.     

Estimating Watershed Level Nonagricultural Pesticide Use From Golf Courses Using Geospatial Methods1

Abstract: Limited information exists on pesticide use for nonagricultural purposes, making it difficult to estimate pesticide loadings from nonagricultural sources to surface water and to conduct environmental risk assessments. A method was developed to estimate the amount of pesticide use on recreational turf grasses, specifically golf course turf grasses, for watersheds located throughout the conterminous United States (U.S.). The approach estimates pesticide use: (1) based on the area of recreational turf grasses (used as a surrogate for turf associated with golf courses) within the watershed, which was derived from maps of land cover, and (2) from data on the location and average treatable area of golf courses. The area of golf course turf grasses determined from these two methods was used to calculate the percentage of each watershed planted in golf course turf grass (percent crop area, or PCA). Turf‐grass PCAs derived from the two methods were used with recommended application rates provided on pesticide labels to estimate total pesticide use on recreational turf within 1,606 watersheds associated with surface‐water sources of drinking water. These pesticide use estimates made from label rates and PCAs were compared to use estimates from industry sales data on the amount of each pesticide sold for use within the watershed. The PCAs derived from the land‐cover data had an average value of 0.4% of a watershed with minimum of 0.01% and a maximum of 9.8%, whereas the PCA values that are based on the number of golf courses in a watershed had an average of 0.3% of a watershed with a minimum of <0.01% and a maximum of 14.2%. Both the land‐cover method and the number of golf courses method produced similar PCA distributions, suggesting that either technique may be used to provide a PCA estimate for recreational turf. The average and maximum PCAs generally correlated to watershed size, with the highest PCAs estimated for small watersheds. Using watershed specific PCAs, combined with label rates, resulted in greater than two orders of magnitude over‐estimation of the pesticide use compared to estimates from sales data.     

Validation of QuEChERS-based method for determination of flusilazole residues in grape by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector

A high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector analytical method was developed to determine the residue levels of flusilazole in grape and investigate the dissipation pattern and safety. The results showed that the mean recoveries were in the range of 86%–90%. Limits of detection and quantification were 0.008 and 0.02 mg/kg, respectively. The residue levels of flusilazole were best described by first-order rate kinetics and with half-lives ranging from 4.2 days (recommended dose) to 4.6 days (double the recommended dose). In conclusion, flusilazole at the recommended or even at double the recommended doses does not pose any apparent hazards to consumers.     

Experimental investigation of the efficiency of triple rinsing of agricultural containers regarding their characterization as non-hazardous wastes

The efficiency of water rinsing for removing fenthion from non-combustible used pesticide containers was investigated. Four hundred empty containers from four olive oil producing areas in Greece were studied. Following triple rinsing cleaning procedures, the amount of fenthion retained in the container ranged from 0.01% to 0.1% w/w of its initial concentration. Extraction was accomplished with acetone, and the extracts were analyzed with a capillary gas chromatographic system coupled with flame ionization detector. The results obtained showed that triple rinsing is an effective procedure for removing fenthion from used pesticide containers, since the remaining pesticide concentration was below the legislated threshold value. Consequently, the containers can be handled as non-hazardous solid wastes.     

农作物秸秆综合利用的研究进展综述

通过对农作物秸秆的研究现状、处理方法及综合应用情况进行综述,归纳出了目前农作物秸秆综合利用领域、主要处理方法及需要突破的关键技术.明确了突破农作物秸秆外表面物质结构实现完全降解和完成内部纤维素、半纤维素等高分子化合物降解转化是综合利用农作物秸秆研究的重点和难点.同时指出了解决农作物秸秆综合利用的技术层面、法律层面和人文认知理念等方面的发展趋势,为高效利用农作物秸秆及开展关键技术攻关提供参考.     

作物种植专业化与化肥减量来源——兼顾经营规模的影响

以作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化为切入点,运用中国13个粮食主产省份1980—2018年的面板数据,考察了作物种植专业化对农业化肥减量的影响及其作用机制。研究主要发现：（1）基础回归分析表明,作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化均对化肥施用强度具有显著的削减效应,对化肥的利用效率有显著的增效作用。且作物种植纵向专业化或社会化服务卷入程度加深,能够增强横向专业化对化肥的减量增效作用。（2）影响路径分析表明,作物种植横向专业化通过扩大农地经营规模,进而增强了作物种植纵向专业化对化肥施用强度的削减效应和利用效率的增效作用。但也应警惕,通过扩大农地经营规模以增强作物种植纵向专业化的减量效应可能存在临界水平。此外,当作物种植横向专业化和纵向专业化积极配合时,可能推移临界点的到来。据此,通过发展作物种植横向专业化,鼓励农户通过服务外包卷入农业的纵向专业化分工以及发展农业适度规模经营,进而实现农业领域化肥的减量增效。     

基于WRF-CMAQ评估秸秆禁烧对区域空气质量的影响

基于本地化的秸秆露天焚烧主要大气污染物排放清单,采用空气质量模式WRF-CMAQ,定量评估秸秆禁烧管控对东北地区空气质量的影响.结果显示,2013~2020年东北地区秸秆露天焚烧污染物排放总量整体呈现先增加再降低的趋势,每年的秸秆焚烧集中期为春耕前（3月和4月）和秋收后（10月和11月）.2017年秸秆焚烧集中期内,秸秆露天焚烧对东北三省的CO和PM_2.5浓度的贡献率分别为24.01%和39.98%,农作秸秆露天焚烧是造成东北地区空气质量下降的重要因素;相同气象条件下,2019年秸秆焚烧集中期,秸秆焚烧对东北三省大气中CO和PM_2.5浓度的贡献率较2017年同期分别下降了9.58%和13.95%,表明2019年的秸秆禁烧政策有效改善了东北地区的空气质量.同时,若东北三省均实施吉林省2019年的秸秆禁烧管控政策,则东北地区的空气质量将会进一步改善.本研究结果可为区域大气污染联防联控政策的制定提供科技支撑.     

贵州梵净山九龙池沉积物14C年代学研究及全新世碳累积速率变化

放射性碳同位素加速器质谱（ASM¹⁴C）测年法是湖泊沉积物定年的主要方法,并且是全新世年代学研究的热点。随着对全新世古气候与环境变化研究的深入,选取不同介质定年可能对年代模型的准确性造成误差,进而影响到气候指标的解译。本文选取贵州东北部梵净山九龙池沉积物中树枝、树叶、树皮、种子等植物残体和全样有机质作为测年介质,利用ASM¹⁴C进行定年。结果表明,相比全样有机质,使用植物残体定年可以在一定程度上避免碳库效应的影响。但相比于原位沉积且生长年限较短的叶片,树枝的定年结果偏老,不是一种理想的定年介质。另外,根据定年结果及总有机碳含量重建了全新世九龙池的碳累积速率,发现碳累积速率可以指示该地区亚洲夏季风强度的变化历史。     

牡蛎壳粉和石灰改良酸性水稻土对磷有效性、形态和酶活性的影响

我国南方粮食主产区土壤酸化治理是提升耕地地力促进粮食增产的重要内容,目的是探究酸化土壤改良剂牡蛎壳粉和石灰对水稻土酸度、磷有效性和形态以及酶活性和相关功能基因的影响.盆栽试验设计2种改良剂的3个施用量（0.05%、0.10%和0.15%）,以水稻为试验作物.结果表明：①牡蛎壳粉和石灰均显著提高土壤pH,降低土壤交换性酸,且改良效果随着改良剂用量增加而提高,相同用量下石灰对土壤酸性的改良效果高于牡蛎壳粉;② 4种有效磷提取剂提取的土壤有效磷测定结果表明,牡蛎壳粉和石灰显著提高H₂SO₄-P、Bray-1 P和Olsen-P含量,其中Olsen-P含量随改良剂用量的增加而提高.③土壤中不同形态无机磷含量表现为：Fe-P>Al-P>Ca-P,石灰和牡蛎壳粉显著提高Al-P和Fe-P含量,分别提高26.3%~37.4%和7.9%~23.7%;0.15%改良剂显著增加Ca-P含量;④石灰和牡蛎壳粉对土壤DHA、ALP、IPP活性和phoD基因拷贝数具有提高作用,而对土壤ACP活性、phoC和pqqC拷贝数表现为降低;⑤改良剂（0.10%和0.15%）显著提高水稻产量,0.15%用量的石灰和牡蛎壳粉分别提高水稻产量34.2%和46.8%,但对秸秆生物量无显著影响.相关分析表明,土壤无机磷和有效磷含量与pH和ALP活性呈显著正相关,改良剂通过消除土壤酸化和提高土壤磷酸酶活性来改善土壤磷营养状况,这对促进作物产量具有积极作用.