TY - JOUR
T1 - Fungicides: An Overlooked Pesticide Class?
AU - Zubrod, Jochen P.
AU - Bundschuh, Mirco
AU - Arts, Gertie
AU - Brühl, Carsten A.
AU - Imfeld, Gwenaël
AU - Knäbel, Anja
AU - Payraudeau, Sylvain
AU - Rasmussen, Jes J.
AU - Rohr, Jason
AU - Scharmüller, Andreas
AU - Smalling, Kelly
AU - Stehle, Sebastian
AU - Schulz, Ralf
AU - Schäfer, Ralf B.
PY - 2019/3/5
Y1 - 2019/3/5
N2 - Fungicides are indispensable to global food security and their use is forecasted to intensify. Fungicides can reach aquatic ecosystems and occur in surface water bodies in agricultural catchments throughout the entire growing season due to their frequent, prophylactic application. However, in comparison to herbicides and insecticides, the exposure to and effects of fungicides have received less attention. We provide an overview of the risk of fungicides to aquatic ecosystems covering fungicide exposure (i.e., environmental fate, exposure modeling, and mitigation measures) as well as direct and indirect effects of fungicides on microorganisms, macrophytes, invertebrates, and vertebrates. We show that fungicides occur widely in aquatic systems, that the accuracy of predicted environmental concentrations is debatable, and that fungicide exposure can be effectively mitigated. We additionally demonstrate that fungicides can be highly toxic to a broad range of organisms and can pose a risk to aquatic biota. Finally, we outline central research gaps that currently challenge our ability to predict fungicide exposure and effects, promising research avenues, and shortcomings of the current environmental risk assessment for fungicides.
AB - Fungicides are indispensable to global food security and their use is forecasted to intensify. Fungicides can reach aquatic ecosystems and occur in surface water bodies in agricultural catchments throughout the entire growing season due to their frequent, prophylactic application. However, in comparison to herbicides and insecticides, the exposure to and effects of fungicides have received less attention. We provide an overview of the risk of fungicides to aquatic ecosystems covering fungicide exposure (i.e., environmental fate, exposure modeling, and mitigation measures) as well as direct and indirect effects of fungicides on microorganisms, macrophytes, invertebrates, and vertebrates. We show that fungicides occur widely in aquatic systems, that the accuracy of predicted environmental concentrations is debatable, and that fungicide exposure can be effectively mitigated. We additionally demonstrate that fungicides can be highly toxic to a broad range of organisms and can pose a risk to aquatic biota. Finally, we outline central research gaps that currently challenge our ability to predict fungicide exposure and effects, promising research avenues, and shortcomings of the current environmental risk assessment for fungicides.
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.8b04392
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.8b04392
M3 - Article
C2 - 30835448
AN - SCOPUS:85063394525
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 53
SP - 3347
EP - 3365
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 7
ER -