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Assessment of the occurrence and interaction between pesticides and plastic litter from vineyard plots
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Aged plastic fragments collected from vineyards were found to contain high concentrations of fungicide residues, with some fungicides accumulating in the plastic at far higher levels than in surrounding soil and showing greater persistence than they do in soil alone. When these plastic fragments are placed in water, they slowly release these pesticides back into the environment, raising concerns about plastics acting as long-lived reservoirs and secondary sources of agricultural chemical pollution in waterways.
In this research, aged plastic fragments collected from vineyards were characterized in terms of composition, residues of pesticides, and their potential to exchange these compounds with the aquatic media. To this end, we employed the qualitative and quantitative information provided by complementary analytical techniques, including chromatography, organic and inorganic mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy and electronic microscopy. Debris of weathered plastics were identified as polypropylene and polyethylene, containing different types of additives, from organic UV stabilizers to inorganic fillers, such as calcium salts. Regardless of polymer type, plastic litter collected from vineyards contained residues of pesticides, and particularly of fungicides, with total concentrations in the range of values from 114 ng g-1 to 76.4 μg g-1. Data obtained under different extraction conditions suggested that a fraction of these compounds was absorbed in aged polymers, penetrating inside the material. The parallel analysis of plastic litter and vineyard soils reflected higher pesticide residues in the former matrix. Furthermore, several fungicides, considered as labile in vineyard soils (i.e. zoxamide and folpet), were those showing the highest levels in plastic litter. Simulated sorption-desorption studies, with plastic debris in contact with surface water, demonstrated the higher affinity of aged materials by moderately polar pesticides than their new counterparts. For the first time, the manuscript highlights the presence of plastic litter in vineyards soils, reflecting the accumulation of several fungicides in this matrix, in some cases, with a different stability pattern to that observed in the soil from same vineyards.
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Researchers studied how two common fungicide pesticides attach to both biodegradable and conventional microplastics in soil environments. They found that non-degradable microplastics absorbed more pesticide and released it more slowly than biodegradable alternatives. The study suggests that microplastics in agricultural soil may act as reservoirs for pesticides, potentially prolonging their environmental presence and ecological impact.
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Researchers found strong sorption of two fungicides onto biodegradable microplastics, with partition coefficients largely unaffected by environmental variables such as pH, ionic strength, and temperature, suggesting that biodegradable plastic alternatives may still facilitate pesticide transport in agricultural and aquatic environments.
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