Special considerations in tropical areas

Brainstorming meeting on environmental and other
factors needed for evaluating and managing riks
posed by pesticides at local level.
Climatic and other factors
Luisa Eugenia Castillo,
lcastill@una.ac.cr
Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica
Special considerations in tropical
areas:
Special considerations in tropical
areas:
Special considerations in tropical
areas:
Special considerations in tropical
areas:
Special considerations in tropical
areas:
Exposed soil previous to planting pineapples
Extensive use of drainage canals with no
protection of borders
Lack of protection
protection of the borders of creeks and rivers
Risk factor:
Distance of cultivated area from water courses
Pesticide use in Central American countries is
among the highest in the world:
País
Año
Uso de plaguicidas
Kg i.a./ha
Costa Rica
2000
18,6
2
El Salvador
2000
6,8
1
Guatemala
2000
7,1
1
Honduras
2000
7,2
1
Nicaragua
2000
7,6
1
Panamá
2000
21,1
1
Region
2000
8,9
1
Dinamarca
1999
1,2
3
Francia
1999
6,0
3
Holanda
1999
5,0
3
Reference
Portugal
1999
8,1
3
Unión Europea (15c
1999
4,5
3
•
Source: 1- Arbeláes y Henao, 2002; 2-IRET-UNA, 2003; 3- Heidorn, 2002.
Risk factors:
Active ingredient %
Costa Rica: toxicity of imported pesticide,
2000-2004
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
No data
Low
Moderated
High
Extreme
fish
daphnia
Type of organism
• Base de datos, IRET
Endosulfan
• Endosulfan: increased use since 1991.
• Crops: Coffee, pineapples, vegetables, fruits, rice.
• Banned in Belize, Colombia and Sweden. Restricted in
Argentina, Canada, Honduras, Japan, Panama, EU.
- Concentrations of pesticides in soil and location of
banana plantations.
- The five highest soil concentrations ocurred at the five
sites with elevations over 2500m.
- Concentrations of endosulfan related compound in passive air
samplers 2004-2005 (ng/sampler).
- Maximum concentration reported in North American study:
150 ng per sampler.
- Highest air levels were found in urban areas and close to
agricultural areas.
Backtrajectory probability map (airshed). The darker the
color, the more probable that air trajectories passed
through that spot.
Bromacil in groundwater
Pesticides
16 positive samples/115 total samples
Bromacil
0.5-20 µg/L
Clorotalonil
0.05-1 µg/L
Nitrates
79 samples analyzed
Maximum conc: 18 mg/L
49 samples >5 mg/l
Fish kills:
• Frequent in
agricultural areas.
• No data base on fish
kills and other
environmental
accidents.
Algunas familias de peces
observadas en las mortandades:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Characidae
Cichlidae
Mugilidae
Centropomidae
Paralichthyidae
Guerridae
Pesticides found in samples collected during fish
kills (LAREP, IRET)
Año
Ubicació
Ubicación
Muestra
Plaguicidas
2003
Canal Salado, Matina
agua
ethoprofos: 0,4 µg/L
propiconazol: 0,2 µg/L
difenoconazol: trazas
2003
Laguna Madre de Dios y
Caño Santa Marta
peces
(Centropomid
ae)
ethoprofos: 0,1 µg/g ww
terbufos: 0,2 µg/g ww*
2004
R.Aguas Zarcas,
Siquirres
agua
ethoprofos: 0,4 µg/L
2004
R. Madre de Dios
Agua
peces
ethoprofos: 2,9 µg/L
chlorotalonil: 15 µg/L
difenoconazol: 0,1µg/L
ethoprofos: 0,07 µg/g ww
stomach content
2004
Canal de Batán
peces(tilapia)
terbufos: 0,2 µg/g ww
2005
Laguna Madre de Dios
agua(3 muestras)
bromacil: 0,7 µg/L
chlorotalonil: 0,4 µg/L
fenamifos : 1 µg/L
Risk factors:
• Quantities and toxicity of pesticides applied
(ai/ha)
¾ Pesticide use in banana plantations in the 1990´s:
aprox 35-40 kg ai/ha
¾ Recent estimates are close to 60 kg ai/ha, with
more fungicides and nematicide use.
• Type of applications: aerial, granulated
compounds not incorporated to the soil.
• Extensive systems of drainage canals
Summary of findings
™ Studies indicate widespread pollution including
aquatic ecosystems, coastal areas, montane forest,
and groundwaters.
™ Some studies report toxic effects to organisms and
significant changes in community composition after
pesticide applications
™ Data gaps in the Region are considerable and need
reliable inventories of sources, monitoring of
emissions and surveillance of environmental and
health exposure and effects.
Challenges
¾ Increased efforts to link residues and effects.
¾ Improvement of toxicity testing with native
sensitive organisms.
¾ Improvement of rapid and reliable identification
of damages and causes (fish dieoffs).
¾ Need to evaluate the risk that agricultural
practices place on the region´s ecological
reserves and biodiversity.
¾ Studies must include vulnerable tropical
ecosystems (mangroves, coral reefs, cloud and
rainforest)
Pesticides and possible link to
amphibian declines?
• Neotropical amphibian populations and in
particular, those inhabiting montane areas are
declining.
• Pathogens in combination with global warming
have recently been implicated in the decline of
amphibian populations in the neotropics.
• However there could be a potential role of
contaminants.
• Declines in amphibian populations in California
have been linked to pesticide deposition.
¾Studies related to climate change:
¾High temperatures might have an
influence on toxicity.
¾Interaction with factors such as UV and
oxygen depletion.
¾Higher concentration of pesticides in
water might ocurr by water evaporation.
Final comments
¾ Enhancemant of clean technologies in
agriculture is a key issue in the reduction of
pesticide loads in the Region.
¾ Ecotoxicological studies can play a key role
providing relevant data on environmental
exposure and effects, as well as tools for
control of pesticide use and for measuring
health of ecosystems.
¾ Consumers in developed countries appear as
key partners!
Muchas gracias!
Thank you!