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EMISSION OF PESTICIDES INTO THE AIR
Citation:
Van den Berg, F., R. Kubiak, W G. Benjey, M. S. Majewski, S. R. Yates, G. L. Reeves, J. H. Smelt, AND A. A. Van der Linden. EMISSION OF PESTICIDES INTO THE AIR. WATER, AIR, AND SOIL POLLUTION 115(1-A):195-218, (1999).
Impact/Purpose:
To improve the accuracy of emissions and dry deposition algorithms in the Agency's regulatory air quality and multimedia simulation models. This effort requires developing process-oriented algorithms, assembling geographical data, evaluating algorithms against field data, and designing and collaborating on field experiments to collect the data needed to test these algorithms.
Description:
During and after the application of pesticide in agriculture, a substantial fraction of the dosage may enter the atmosphere and be transported over varying distances downwind of the target. The rate and extent of the emission during application depends primarily on the application technique and the formulation, whereas the emission after application depends primarily on the properties of the pesticide, soils and environmental conditions. The fraction of the dosage that misses the target (spray drift) may be high in some cases and more data on this loss term is needed for various application types and weather conditions. Such data are necessary to test spray drift models, and for further model development and verification as well. The emission of soil fumigants and soil incorporated pesticides into the air after application can be measured with reasonable accuracy, but current models are inadequate in predicting the volatilization rate under general conditions, as a result, further model development is needed to improve their reliability. For soil surface applied pesticides reliable measurement methods are available, but there is not yet a reliable model. Further model development is required which must be verified by field experiments. Few data are available on pesticide volatilization from plants and more field experiments are also needed to study the fate processes on the plants. Once this information is available, a model needs to be developed to predict the volatilization of pesticides from plants, which, again, should be verified with field measurements. For regional emission estimates, a link between data on the temporal and spatial pesticide use and a geographical information system for crops and soils with their characteristics is needed.