Pesticides in Ethiopian surface waters: A meta-analytic based ecological risk assessment.

Autor: Asefa EM; School of Environmental Health, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, 235 Harar, Ethiopia; Department of Biology, College of Computational and Natural Science, Hawassa University, 05 Hawassa, Ethiopia. Electronic address: Elsai.mati@haramaya.edu.et., Mergia MT; Department of Biology, College of Computational and Natural Science, Hawassa University, 05 Hawassa, Ethiopia., Ayele S; Department of Biology, College of Computational and Natural Science, Hawassa University, 05 Hawassa, Ethiopia., Damtew YT; School of Environmental Health, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, 235 Harar, Ethiopia; School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia., Teklu BM; Plant Quarantine and Regulatory Lead Executive, Ethiopian Agricultural Authority, 313003 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia., Weldemariam ED; Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Urban Development Studies, Kotebe University of Education, 31248 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Feb 10; Vol. 911, pp. 168727. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 23.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168727
Abstrakt: In most developing countries, including Ethiopia, a conspicuous gap exists in understanding risk of pesticides and establishing robust regulatory frameworks for their effective management. In this context, we present a detailed assessment of pesticide risks within Ethiopian aquatic ecosystems in at least 18 distinct surface water bodies, including 46 unique sample locations. Measured environmental concentrations (MECs; n = 388) of current-use pesticides (n = 52), sourced from existing field studies, were compared against their respective regulatory threshold levels (RTLs). The results indicated a scarcity of pesticide exposure data across the majority of Ethiopian water bodies situated within agricultural watersheds. Importantly, surface water pesticide concentrations ranged from 0.0001 to 142.66 μg/L, with a median concentration of 0.415 μg/L. The available dataset revealed that 142 out of 356 MECs (approximately 40 %) of the identified pesticides entail significant acute risks to aquatic ecosystems, with the highest RTL exceedances up to a factor of 8695. Among the pesticide use groups, insecticides exhibited the highest exceedance rate, while this was rarer for fungicides and herbicides. Furthermore, a species-specific insecticide risk assessment indicated aquatic invertebrates (54.4 %) and fishes (38.4 %) are more exposed to pesticide risks, attributable to pyrethroids and organophosphates. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the presently registered pesticides in Ethiopia carry elevated risks towards aquatic environments under real-world settings. This challenges the notion that pesticides approved through Ethiopian pesticide regulatory risk assessment entail minimal environmental hazards. Consequently, we advocate for the adoption of more refined risk assessment strategies, a post-registration reevaluation process, and, if deemed necessary, the imposition of bans or restrictions on highly toxic pesticides.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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