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Transformations of Pesticides in the Atmosphere: A State of the Art

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Abstract

The current knowledge about transformation rates and products of pesticides in the atmosphere is reviewed. Reactive species and their concentrations in the atmosphere are presented. Reactions of pesticides with these species (including photolysis) in the gas and the particulate phase are evaluated from available experimental data. The potential of estimation methods is discussed. Experimental techniques for laboratory and outdoor measurements are reviewed. Finally, an estimation is made of uncertainties in atmospheric lifetimes due to chemical or physical reactions. It is concluded that the most important transformation of pesticides in the atmosphere is due to reaction with OH radicals. Very few experimental data for pesticides are available though. The levels of uncertainty in OH radical concentrations are acceptable, however, for a proper estimation of atmospheric removal rates due to reactions with OH radicals of those pesticides for which experimental transformation rates (of homologues) are available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Air Pollution Research Center, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Roger Atkinson

  2. TNO Institute of Environmental Sciences, Energy Research and Process Innovation, P.O. Box 342, NL-7300 AH, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

    Rob Guicherit

  3. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Ronald A. Hites

  4. Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie und Aerosolforschung, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Wolf-Ulrich Palm

  5. Western Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Albany, CA, 94710, USA

    James N. Seiber

  6. Amsterdam Research Institute for Substances in Ecosystems (ARISE) Environmental and Toxicological Chemistry, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, NL-1018 WV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Pim de Voogt

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  1. Roger Atkinson
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Atkinson, R., Guicherit, R., Hites, R.A. et al. Transformations of Pesticides in the Atmosphere: A State of the Art. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 115, 219–243 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005286313693

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