Background

In a previous study, we found that 45% of public playgrounds near intensively managed agricultural areas were contaminated with mainly endocrine active pesticide residues in spring. Here, we investigated potential contamination over the course of a year.

Methods

Residue data were analyzed from 96 grass samples collected in spring, summer, autumn, and winter by the South Tyrolean Medical Service in 19 public playgrounds, four schoolyards, and one marketplace located within intensively managed agricultural landscapes. Samples were analyzed for 281 substances using gas-chromatography and mass-spectrometry.

Results

A total of 32 pesticide residues and one preservative agent were found. Almost all of the sites (96%) were contaminated with at least one residue during the year; in 79% of the sites, more than one residue was found. Among the detected residues, 76% are classified as endocrine active substances, with the highest concentrations of the insecticide chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.71 mg kg⁻¹), the herbicide oxadiazon (0.64 mg kg⁻¹), and the fungicides captan (0.46 mg kg⁻¹) and fluazinam (0.23 mg kg⁻¹). The number of residues, their concentrations, and the proportion of contaminated sites varied across seasons (p < 0.001). Twenty-five residues were found in 83% of the sites in spring (median concentration 0.240 mg kg⁻¹), nine in 79% of the sites in summer (0.092 mg kg⁻¹), three in 50% of the sites in autumn (0.076 mg kg⁻¹), and four in 17% of the sites in winter (0.155 mg kg⁻¹). Playgrounds already examined in 2017 in the previous study, were more often contaminated with multiple pesticide residues in 2018 (p = 0.045).

Conclusion

This study confirms previous findings of widespread pesticide contamination of public sites within intensively managed agricultural areas. Moreover, pesticide residues were also found in periods with little or no pesticide application in the field (autumn and winter). It is worrisome that many of the detected residues are endocrine active substances and that some of them (thiacloprid, bupirimate, captan, folpet) are “suspected human carcinogens”, according to EU authorities. Thus, we call for more effective controls of pesticide applications to minimize pesticide drift into public places.

中文翻译：

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南蒂罗尔集约化农业区附近公共场所的全年农药污染

背景

在先前的研究中，我们发现在集约化管理的农业区域附近的公共游乐场中，春季有45％的污染物主要是内分泌活性农药残留。在这里，我们调查了一年中的潜在污染。

方法

South Tyrolean Medical Service在春季，夏季，秋季和冬季从19个公共操场，四个校园和一个位于集约化管理农业景观中的市场中采集的96种草样品中分析了残留数据。使用气相色谱和质谱分析样品中的281种物质。

结果

总共发现了32种农药残留和一种防腐剂。在这一年中，几乎所有场所（96％）都被至少一种残留物污染；在79％的站点中，发现了一个以上的残留物。在检测到的残留物中，有76％被归类为内分泌活性物质，其中杀虫剂甲基毒死rif（0.71 mg kg ^-1），除草剂草二氮杂（0.64 mg kg ^-1）和杀菌剂克菌丹（0.46 mg）的浓度最高。 kg ^-1）和氟嗪酸（0.23 mg kg ^-1）。残留物的数量，其浓度以及受污染地点的比例随季节变化（p  <0.001）。在春季的83％的地点中发现了25个残留物（中位数浓度为0.240 mg / kg^-1），夏季（79％）的站点中有九个（0.092 mg kg ^-1），秋季（50％）的站点中有三（0.076 mg kg ^-1），冬季（17.5％）的站点中有17％ mg kg ^-1）。在先前的研究中，2017年已经检查过的游乐场在2018年经常被多种农药残留污染（p  = 0.045）。

结论

这项研究证实了在集约化管理的农业区域内公共场所普遍存在农药污染的先前发现。此外，在田间（秋季和冬季）很少或根本没有农药施用的时期也发现了农药残留。令人担忧的是，许多检测到的残留物是内分泌活性物质，而其中一些（噻虫啉，布比利马特，卡普坦，folpet）是“可疑的人类致癌物”。因此，我们呼吁更有效地控制农药的使用，以尽量减少农药向公共场所的漂移。