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Background: Leaf wettability is a major hurdle for the retention of agrichemical sprays that is combated, in part, by using adjuvant modified formulations. Scientists must understand the properties of the leaf surface and the formulation that govern wetting to intelligently select or formulate products to target specific pests., Results: A comprehensive database comprising 11 synthetic surfaces and 54 leaf surfaces (species, adaxial and abaxial sides, cultivars, and plant age) using 35 formulations (neat solutions and adjuvants solutions at different concentrations) was compiled. Surface properties of the physical roughness and chemical polarity, as quantified by the wetting tension dielectric method, and formulation properties of surface tension and polarity, as quantified by dielectric constant, were found to govern wetting. A comprehensive wetting model was developed that employed these variables and was capable of accurately predicting the wetting outcome (R 2  = 0.86) on all the leaf and synthetic surfaces investigated. This model adequately predicts adjuvant formulation wetting despite exact formulation polarity being unknown., Conclusions: Wetting can be modelled for a wide range of surfaces and solutions. The comprehensive wetting model developed shows potential to better predict the wetting outcome of adjuvant formulations should a method to quantify the formulation dielectric constant be developed. This research provides a significant advancement in the understanding of the properties governing wetting, which may aid the selection and development of adjuvants to target specific surfaces. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Excessive delivery of agricultural chemicals seriously threatens the ecology and environment of agricultural areas and restricts the sustainable development of agriculture. The analysis of agrochemical Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) adopting spatial econometric tools is limited. Therefore, this study adopted the spatial panel regression approach to analyze the agricultural chemicals EKC Three Gorges Reservoir Region (TGRR). The results show that (1) both EKC curves of chemical fertilizer and pesticide of the TGRR are inverted U-shaped, and there are 53.8% and 42.3% of the counties/districts did not meet the inflection point of the EKC as regards to chemical fertilizer and pesticide. (2) The EKC of agricultural chemicals of the TGRR are stable, and the variables such as cultivated area and the urban-rural income disparity have impact on the occurrence of the inflection point of EKC. (3) There is the spatial "imitation and convergence" of agricultural chemicals among the counties in the TGRR. The findings indicate that the ecological and environmental situations of agriculture in the TGRR need urgent attention. Countermeasures aiming to alleviate the contradiction between ecological and economic development should be put forward., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate change, increasing populations, competing demands on land for production of biofuels and declining soil quality are challenging global food security. Finding sustainable solutions requires bold new approaches and integration of knowledge from diverse fields, such as materials science and informatics. The convergence of precision agriculture, in which farmers respond in real time to changes in crop growth with nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, offers exciting opportunities for sustainable food production. Coupling existing models for nutrient cycling and crop productivity with nanoinformatics approaches to optimize targeting, uptake, delivery, nutrient capture and long-term impacts on soil microbial communities will enable design of nanoscale agrochemicals that combine optimal safety and functionality profiles., (© 2021. Springer Nature Limited.)

Pyocyanin is a blue green phenazine pigment produced in large quantities by active cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with advantageous applications in medicine, agriculture and for the environment. Hence, in the present study, a potent bacterium was isolated from agricultural soil and was identified morphologically and by 16S rRNA sequencing as P. aeruginosa (isolate KU_BIO2). When the influence of nutrient supplements in both King's A and Nutrient media as amended was investigated, an enhanced pyocyanin production of 2.56 µg ml -1 was achieved in King's A medium amended with soya bean followed by 1.702 µg ml -1 of pyocyanin from the nutrient medium amended with sweet potato. Purified pyocyanin was characterized by UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrum (LCMS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) confirmed its mass value at 211 and as N-CH 3 protons resonating at 3.363 ppm as a singlet respectively. The isolated pyocyanin displayed remarkable dye property by inducing color change in cotton cloth from white to pink. Lastly, the antifungal activity of test pyocyanin showed inhibition of growth of rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea and bacterial blight of rice, Xanthomonas oryzae at concentrations of 150 and 200 ppm, respectively. Thus, this investigation provides evidence for diverse actions of pyocyanin which are nutrient dependent and are capable of acting on a large scale, by utilizing microbes existing in agriculture wastes, and thus could be used as an alternative source in the making of natural textile dyes with strong durability and a broad spectrum of ecofriendly agrochemicals.

The use of agrochemical inputs has significantly enhanced agricultural yields in China; however, their excessive utilization has also caused a range of environmental issues. This paper examines the costs associated with reducing agrochemicals by employing shadow prices, which represent the value of the marginal product of agrochemicals, to further develop cost-effective environmental policy measures for reducing their usage. To this end, the shadow prices of agrochemicals have been assessed by adopting a newly developed convex expectile regression approach and using statistical data from 31 provinces in China spanning from 2005 to 2020. Furthermore, the present study investigates the disparities between shadow prices and market prices for different agrochemicals across various regions in China. The findings suggest that the costs of reducing chemical fertilizers are higher than those of reducing pesticides and plastic films. Moreover, the results indicate that central China exhibits relatively high potential for decreasing agrochemical usage. Finally, these findings can inform the Chinese government's restructuring of producer support and environmental policy in a cost-effective way to mitigate agrochemicals use in the future. Additionally, the research method employed in this study holds potential for extension to other agrochemicals-dependent countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The growing concern with the decline of pollinators worldwide is centered on honey bees, due to their wide distribution, economic, and ecological importance. This type of concern remained less evident for stingless bees, which are widely distributed in the Neotropics, until recently. Since exposure to agrochemicals has been identified as one of the potential threats to bees, the present systematic review compiled information from toxicological evaluations in stingless bees in Brazil, home to a considerable portion of the existing species. This systematic review was performed considering species, research institutions, scientific journals, metrics, experimental set ups, and agrochemicals. The first article in this topic was published in 2010. Since then, 93 scientific papers were published, which showed that there are few species of stingless bees used for toxicological evaluations and Brazilian institutions lead these evaluations. Only 1.5% of the stingless bees' species that occur in Brazil were assessed through chronic exposure in the larval stage. The Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV) is responsible for 37% of the total publications. The main route of exposure was acute, using adults in laboratory conditions. The main group of agrochemicals studied were insecticides, in particular the neonicotinoids. The current results reveal the advances achieved and point out the gaps that still need to be filled considering toxicological evaluations in stingless bees., (© 2024. Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil.)

Chitosan has received much more attention as a functional biopolymer with applications in pharmaceuticals, agricultural, drug delivery systems and cosmetics. The objectives of present investigation were to carry out modification of chitosan for enhancement of aqueous solubility, which will impart increased solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drug itraconazole (ITZ) and also evaluate the modified chitosan for soyabean seed germination studies. The modification of chitosan was accomplished through the antisolvent precipitation method; employing five carboxylic acids. The resulting products were assessed for changes in molecular weight, degree of deacetylation, solubility and solid state characterization. Subsequently, the modified chitosan was complexed with itraconazole using the co-grinding technique. The prepared formulations were evaluated for solubility, FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), PXRD (Powder X-ray diffraction), in-vitro dissolution studies. Furthermore the effect of modified chitosan has been evaluated on soybean seed germination. Results demonstrated that, modified chitosan improves self and solubility of itraconazole by six folds. As there was increased degree of deacetylation of chitosan leads to improvement in solubility. The results of FTIR showed the slight shifting of peaks in co-grind formulations of itraconazole. Formulations showed reduction in crystallinity of drug which leads to enhancement in dissolution rate as compared to pure itraconazole. Retention of property of seed germination was observed with modified chitosan at optimum concentration of 3 % w/v, with benefit of enhanced aqueous solubility of chitosan. This positive result paves the way for the advancement of pharmaceutical and agrochemical products employing derivatives of chitosan., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the context of increasing global food demand and the urgent need for production processes optimization, plant protection products play a key role in safeguarding crops from insects, pests, and fungi, responsible of plant diseases proliferation and yield losses. Despite the inaccurate distribution of conventional aerial spraying performed by airplanes and helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Spraying Systems (UASSs) offer low health risks and operational cost solutions, preserving crops and soil from physical damage. This study explores the impact of UASS flight height (2 m and 2.5 m above ground level), speed (1 m s−1 and 1.5 m s−1), and position (over the canopy and the inter-row) on vineyard aerial spraying efficiency by analysing Water Sensitive Papers droplet coverage, density, and Number Median Diameter using a MATLAB script. Flight position factor, more than others, influenced the application results. The specific configuration of 2 m altitude, 1.5 m s−1 cruising speed, and inter-row positioning yielded the best results in terms of canopy coverage, minimizing off-target and ground dispersion, and represented the best setting to facilitate droplets penetration, reaching the lowest parts generally more affected from disease. Further research is needed to assess UASS aerial PPP distribution effectiveness and environmental impact in agriculture, crucial for technology implementation, especially in countries where aerial treatments are not yet permitted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estrogen mimics are a diverse group of synthetic and naturally occurring compounds that can interact with estrogen receptors (ERs) in animals, including humans. These interactions rely on key structural features of 17b-estradiol (E2) and if these molecular features are in a similar spatial arrangement on other compounds, they are likely to elicit an agonist (i.e., they are E2 mimics) or antagonist response. The structural diversity of some compounds vis-à-vis analogies with E2 makes it difficult to reliably predict E2 mimicry on simple structural grounds alone. We propose a new approach methodology: in silico molecular modelling augmented by an in vitro transactivation reporter gene assay to predict E2 mimicry and thus further reduce regulatory reliance on animal studies. Transactivation reporter gene assay dose response curves and in silico molecular modelling were used to obtain EC50-values and docking parameters (DockScores), respectively of thirty E2 mimics to assess the reliability of in silico receptor interaction parameters to predict E2 mimicry. A linear relationship (R2 = 0.75) was found between DockScores and EC50s, suggesting molecular modelling is a good tool for predicting E2 mimicry in a regulatory setting., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Multiple in vitro eye irritation methods have been developed and adopted as OECD health effects test guidelines. However, for predicting the ocular irritation/damage potential of agrochemical formulations there is an applicability domain knowledge gap for most of the methods. To overcome this gap, a retrospective evaluation of 192 agrochemical formulations with in vivo (OECD TG 405) and in vitro (OECD TG 437, 438, and/or 492) data was conducted to determine if the in vitro methods could accurately assign United Nations Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) eye irritation hazard classifications. In addition, for each formulation the eye irritation classification was derived from the classification of the contained hazardous ingredients and their respective concentration in the product using the GHS concentration threshold (CT) approach. The results herein suggest that the three in vitro methods and the GHS CT approach were highly predictive of formulations that would not require GHS classification for eye irritation. Given most agrochemical formulations fall into this category, methods that accurately identify non-classified agrochemical formulations could significantly reduce the use of animals for this endpoint., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination has emerged as a significant global environmental concern, posing numerous risks to individual organisms and entire ecosystems. Concurrently, the global increase in pesticide usage has elevated the influx of chloride ions (Cl-) into the soil. Given Cl-'s robust ability to coordinate and complex with various heavy metal ions, understanding its influence on the migration and transformation of Cd in soil-rice systems is essential for the rational application of pesticides and the effective mitigation of soil heavy metal pollution. In this paper, we explained the effect of Cl- on the environmental behavior of Cd in the soil-rice system in terms of growth traits, Cd uptake and accumulation by rice, and Cd solid-solution phase interface behavior through pot experiments and sand culture experiments. The results showed that Cd concentrations in all parts of the rice treated with CaCl2 during the filling period were lower than those in the Ca(NO3)2-treated group, with Cd accumulation diminishing as Cl- concentration increased. This suggests that the filling period is critical for Cd uptake and accumulation in rice. Unlike the accompanying anion NO3 -, exogenous Cl- reduced Cd concentrations in the soil solution but increased them in rice. Notably, when the Cd/Cl ratio ranged from 0.625 to 2.5, Cl- formed predominantly CdCl+-complexes with free Cd2+ in the soil solution, enhancing the mobilization of Cd bound to soil particles and its subsequent absorption by rice. This study aims to assess Cl-'s effect on Cd migration and transformation in soil-rice systems, providing insights for safe rice production on Cd-contaminated soils and rational use of chlorine-containing pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertilizers play an essential role in increasing crop yield, maintaining soil fertility, and provide a steady supply of nutrients for plant requirements. The excessive use of conventional fertilizers can cause environmental problems associated with nutrient loss through volatilization in the atmosphere, leaching to groundwater, surface run-off, and denitrification. To mitigate environmental issues and improve the longevity of fertilizer in soil, controlled release fertilizers (CRFs) have been developed. The application of CRFs can reduce the loss of nutrients, provide higher nutrient use efficiency, and improve soil health simultaneously to achieve the goals of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices. The major findings of this review paper are (1) CRFs can prevent direct exposure of fertilizer granule to soil and prevent loss of nutrients such as nitrate and nitrous oxide emissions; (2) CRFs are less affected by the change in environmental parameters, and that can increase longevity in soil compared to conventional fertilizers; and (3) CRFs can maintain required soil nitrogen levels, increase water retention, reduce GHG emissions, lead to optimum pH for plant growth, and increase soil organic matter content. This paper could give good insights into the ongoing development and future perspectives of CRFs for CSA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous agrochemicals, including pesticides and herbicides, are applied in modern agriculture, resulting in concerns for the ecosystem and human safety as humans are easily exposed to these compounds. Many agrochemicals, and their transformation products or metabolites, have shown toxicity in in vitro and in vivo studies. However, given the rapid development of novel agrochemicals, for many there is no information about their effects nor about metabolic transformations when ingested by humans. Tracing biomarkers may be the best method for assessing the impacts of agrochemicals. A combination of in vitro metabolism study and suspect screening of human samples (e.g., urine, blood) can be utilized to efficiently find biomarkers for agrochemical exposure. In the work reported here, we determined the in vitro metabolic profiling of six prioritized pesticides and synergists, namely boscalid, carbendazim, piperonyl butoxide, spiroxamine, dimethomorph and fludioxonil, in human liver microsomes. 17 major metabolites were structurally elucidated by high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Major metabolic transformation processes (e.g., hydroxylation, demethylation and oxidation) were proposed for each pesticide. Individual in silico toxicity assessments showed that some metabolites had the same or even enhanced toxicity compared to parent compounds. Information about these metabolites obtained from HRMS was used for suspect screening in human activities related samples. Carbendazim and a metabolite of fludioxonil were identified in wastewater and laboratory urine samples, respectively. Our findings provide concrete evidence for the use of in vitro metabolites as biomarkers in biomonitoring studies of potential exposure to toxic chemicals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to carry out a pilot investigation, using a buccal micronucleus cytome assay, with the population of Vila Rural Água Viva (Francisco Beltrão, Paraná, Brazil), environmentally exposed to agrochemicals. The data shows statistically differences between the control group (not exposed) and the population of Vila Rural regarding the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity. There was no significant change between the average relative frequencies of these data whether divided between smokers and non-smokers, or practitioners of physical activities or not. It was also observed that age or time of exposure to agrochemicals did not show a linear relationship with the average relative frequencies of cytotoxicity and mutagenicity data. The work shows the presence of 2,4-D herbicide in water sample of community, then it is hoped that the results will assist in guiding the dangers to health and the environment from exposure to agrochemicals., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Increased crop production is necessary to keep up with rising food demand. However, conventional agricultural practices and agrochemicals are unable to sustain further increases without serious risk of adverse environmental consequences. The implementation of nanotechnology in agriculture practices has been increasing in recent years and has shown tremendous potential to boost crop production. The rapid growth in development and use of nano-agrochemicals in agriculture will inevitably result in more chemicals reaching water bodies. Some unique properties of nanoformulations may also alter the toxicity of the AI on aquatic organisms when compared to their conventional counterparts. Results from studies on conventional formulations may not properly represent the toxicity of new nanoformulations in the aquatic environment. As a result, current guidelines derived from conventional formulations may not be suitable to regulate those newly developed nanoformulations. Current knowledge on the toxicity of nano-agrochemicals on aquatic organisms is limited, especially in an ecologically relevant setting. This review complies and analyzes 18 primary studies based on 7 criteria to provide a comprehensive analysis of the available toxicity information of nano-agrochemicals and their conventional counterparts on aquatic organisms. Our analysis demonstrates that the overall toxicity of nano-agrochemicals on non-target aquatic species is significantly lower as compared to conventional counterparts. However, further dividing formulations into three categories (organic, bulk and ionic) shows that some nanoformulations can be more toxic when compared to bulk materials but less toxic as compared to ionic formulations while organic nanopesticides do not show a general trend in overall toxicity. Moreover, our analysis reveals the limitations of current studies and provides recommendations for future toxicity studies to ensure the effective and sustainable application of nano-agrochemicals, which will be beneficial to both the agrochemical industry and regulatory agencies alike., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Agrochemicals provide huge agronomic and economic benefits. However, excessive agrochemicals cause serious environmental pollution. The use of surfactants can effectively improve the utilization rate of agrochemicals in the soil, and an amphiphilic alginate derivative (Ugi-alg) was prepared in this work. This paper mainly discussed the affinity between Ugi-alg and soil colloids and the influence of Ugi-alg on the adsorption behavior of pesticides on colloidal particles. In the presence of 2.4 mM Ca2+, the affinity between soil colloids and Ugi-alg (30 mg/L) was enhanced (~ − 12.33 mV) compared with pure soil colloids (~ − 30 mV). The strong affinity between Ugi-alg and the colloids reduced the migration of acetamiprid. Transmission electron microscopy showed that soil colloids were wrapped by the network structure of Ugi-alg, indicating that Ugi-alg easily adhered to the surface of soil colloids. Studies of the adsorption showed the adsorption capacity of acetamiprid on soil colloids was 556 mg/g in the presence of Ugi-alg (30 mg/L) and Ca2+ (2.4 mM). And the adsorption behavior of acetamiprid in soil colloids was also not greatly affected by changes in pH and temperature. Ugi-alg is a degradable polysaccharide-based surfactant which provides a new concept and a practical method for the remediation of soil pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schistosomiasis is a snail-borne parasitic disease, which is affecting almost 240 million people worldwide. The number of humans affected by schistosomiasis is continuously increasing with the rise in the use of agrochemicals. In this paper, a mathematical model is formulated and analyzed to assess the effect of agrochemicals on the transmission of schistosomiasis. The proposed model incorporates the effects of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides on susceptible snails and snail predators along with schistosomiasis disease transmission. The existence and stability of the equilibria in the model are discussed. Sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the key parameters of the proposed model, which contributes most in the transmission of this disease. Numerical simulations are also performed to assess the impact of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides on schistosomiasis outbreaks. Our study reveals that the agricultural pollution can enhance the transmission intensity of schistosomiasis, and in order to prevent the outbreak of schistosomiasis, the use of pesticides should be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]