Dr David Brown and Dr Adrian Terry have co-authored a journal article on ‘Measuring pesticides in the atmosphere: current status, emerging trends and future perspectives‘.
There is an increasing interest in the potential presence of pesticide residues in air. However, due to a lack of harmonisation, and the use of diverse methods and approaches, it remains challenging to derive potential exposure risks, to assess data quality of studies, and to compare datasets. In this study a group of experts, including Bayer AG, national regulators, academics, and CEA, assessed the current and emerging trends of different air monitoring approaches and highlighted how they influence the interpretation of data.
To improve the comparability and utility of data, and to ensure that air monitoring meets certain quality requirements, a path forward was proposed. This includes the standardisation and harmonisation of methods by adopting well-characterised and widely applied methods from air quality research as a basis for pesticide monitoring; A tiered approach for monitoring programs where initial passive sampling identifies potential exposure risks, followed by active sampling for quantitative data, and, if necessary, extensive monitoring programs; and a proposal to improve the interpretation and transparency of data by ensuring that information is publicly available and that methods, analysis, and uncertainties are reported clearly.
It is expected that this work will inform both data generators and data users during their work and initiate improvements towards standardisation of monitoring pesticides in air.
You can read the full open-access article on the Environmental Sciences Europe journal website.
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