RT Journal Article
T1 The fingerprint of pesticides in agricultural used polyethylene
A1 Castro Varela, Gabriela
A1 Fernández Varela, Victoria
A1 Ramil Criado, María
A1 Cobo Golpe, Miguel
A1 Blázquez Blázquez, Enrique
A1 Cerrada García, María Luisa
A1 Bernabé Virseda, Ignacio
A1 Martínez Urreaga, Joaquín
A1 Ulagares de la Orden Hernández, María
A1 Rodríguez Pereiro, Isaac
K1 Agricultural plastic waste
K1 Leaching
K1 Pesticides
K1 Polyethylene
K1 Recycling
K1 Thermal degradation
AB The widespread use of polyethylene (PE) materials in agriculture through mulch films, tunnels, greenhouse covers, irrigation pipes and tying tapes has been instrumental in increasing crop productivity and reducing water demand. However, it raised concerns regarding the interaction between PE and pesticides sprayed on crops. This research strives to study the fingerprint of pesticides in agricultural PE by analyzing new items, end-of-life agricultural plastics and a range of samples corresponding to the recycling of aged PE, from sized and washed flakes to second-hand pellets and plant protection tubes elaborated from recycled plastic. Total concentrations determined for a selection of fungicides and insecticides in the abovementioned materials varied between 4.7 ng g-1 and 4179 ng g-1, with the fungicides cyprodinil and difenoconazole showing the highest concentrations. Furthermore, transformation products of pesticides phased out more than 40 years ago, e.g., p,p'-DDE, were found in some PE items. The survival of pesticides at temperatures above the melting point of this polymer was confirmed in laboratory-scale melting experiments, as well as through the analysis of second-hand pellets. Experiments carried out using pesticide-polluted dripline pipes confirmed the migration of these compounds from PE to flowing water.
PB Elsevier
SN 0956-053X
YR 2025
FD 2025-06-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43037
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43037
LA eng
NO Castro Varela, G., Fernández Varela, V., Ramil Criado, M., Cobo Golpe, M., Blázquez Blázquez, E., Cerrada García, M.L., Bernabé Virseda, I., Martínez Urreaga, J., Ulagares de la Orden Hernández, M. and Rodríguez Pereiro, I. The fingerprint of pesticides in agricultural used polyethylene. Waste Management, 200, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2025.114767
NO This work was supported by Xunta de Galicia through contract ref. ED431C2021/06, co-financed with EU-FEDER funds. The contribution of G. Castro was supported by her Maria Zambrano grant through the Spanish Ministry of Science (“UE Next Generation” founds). M. Cobo acknowledges his FPI contract to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Xunta de Galicia through grants PGC2018–094613-B-I00, TED2021-129962B-C42, TED2021-130166B-I00 and ED431C 2021/06, respectively. Both projects are co-funded by the EU FEDER program.
DS Minerva
RD 23 abr 2026