A farmer sprays pesticides on his field in the haze in Zhangye, Gansu province, China, March 16, 2021.
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s agricultural land is at risk of pesticide contamination, according to a study released Monday (March 29).
As agriculture expands, the use of pesticides has increased dramatically worldwide, but the chemicals in pesticides that are difficult to break down will leach into water sources and threaten biodiversity. China has the largest area of land at high risk of contamination and the highest risk.
The Australian researchers analyzed data on 92 chemicals commonly used in pesticides to simulate the risk of contamination in 168 countries around the world.
The researchers said they used data from the U.S. Geological Survey (United States Geological Survey) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) to analyze a total of 59 herbicides, 21 pesticides and 19 fungicides.
They entered this information into a mathematical model and used the model to estimate the pesticides that might remain in the environment.
An area was considered “high risk” if there was at least one pesticide ingredient left at a concentration 1,000 times higher than the concentration that would have no effect at all. The results found that 64% of the world’s arable land (about 24.5 million square kilometers, or 9.4 million square miles), at risk of contamination by more than one pesticide. At the same Time, 31 percent of the arable land was even more “high risk.
“This is significant because of the wide range of potential contamination and the fact that some of the areas at risk have high biodiversity and are affected by water scarcity.” Fiona Tang of the University of Sydney’s School of Civil Engineering, lead author of this study, said.
Dr. Tang added, “Globally, 34 percent of the high-risk areas, at the same time, have high biodiversity.”
The researchers said there are many factors that can cause an area to become a potential pollution hotspot, including the use of excessive amounts of pesticides or pesticides containing highly toxic substances.
Some environmental factors may also slow the rate at which pesticides break down into non-toxic substances, such as low temperatures or low soil carbon content, while heavy rainfall may also cause large amounts of pesticides to be washed into the natural environment.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience (Nature Geoscience).
The report found that Asia has the most “high-risk” cropland, with China accounting for the highest percentage. China accounts for 2.9 million square kilometers of the estimated 4.9 million square kilometers of arable land in Asia at “high risk” of pesticide contamination, making it the country with the highest risk of pesticide residue contamination in the world.
In addition to Asia, the researchers said, Russia, Ukraine and Spain and other countries, the level of pesticide contamination has also gradually increased in recent years.
“While agricultural land in Oceania, shows the lowest risk of pesticide contamination, Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (Murray-Darling Basin) is considered an area of high concern, both because of its scarce water resources and because of its high biological diversity.” said Federico Maggi, co-author of the study and associate professor at the Sydney Agricultural Research Institute.
The study calls for a global strategy to transition to “sustainable agriculture and sustainable living” that involves low pesticide use, reduced food loss and food waste.
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