Pesticides: perception of environmental risk and quantification ofglyphosate in atmospheric deposition (Entre Rios, Argentina)

Abstract

In Argentina there has been a growing conflict about the use of pesticides and their impacts, mainly with regard to the air compartment and areas with close proximity between agricultural and residential land uses. The present study focuses on this problem in Oro Verde (Entre Rios, Argentina) using the case study methodology. The aim was to examine the use of agricultural pesticides in urban-rural interface areas as a factor considered problematic by the local population and that affects the air quality in the locality analyzed. The study was conducted in 2016/2018, with a mixed methodological approach. The analysis of perception of the urban population through surveys and interviews with inhabitants who consider themselves affected showed that a large proportion of them identify this problem, emphasizing impacts on the air, and consider it unresolved. Although interviewees mentioned the proximity of the houses to the spraying as an important factor, they also considered that there are other routes of entry of pesticides, for which ther solutions are necessary. Determinations of the herbicide glyphosate (GLP) and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in atmospheric deposition (15 sites- three sampling periods) showed their presence in both urban and rural areas, in 60% of the sampling sites. The second sampling period showed higher amounts of GLP+AMPA than the first (11.82 pg/m2/15 days). The differences were not attributable to the proximity to agricultural areas, so other factors determining their emission and environmental dynamics should be discussed. The integration and analysis of the population's viewpoints of and environmental measurements are considered necessary to address socio-environmental problems and generate knowledge that can contribute to local planning and development.