Pesticide standard values are applied worldwide to control

pesticide pollution The environmental effects of pesticides describe the broad series of consequences of using pesticides. The unintended consequences of pesticides is one of the main drivers of Environmental impact of agriculture, the negative impact of modern ind ...

,Jennings, A. and Li, Z., 2014. Scope of the worldwide effort to regulate pesticide contamination in surface soils. Journal of environmental management, 146, pp.420-443. since pesticides are largely applied in numerous agricultural, commercial, residential, and industrial applications. Usually, pesticide standard value is regulated in residential surface soil (i.e., pesticide soil regulatory guidance value, or RGV),

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

(i.e., pesticide drinking water

maximum concentration is the maximum (or peak) serum concentration that a drug achieves in a specified compartment or test area of the body after the drug has been administered and before the administration of a second dose. It is a standard measurement in pharma ...

level, or MCL), foods (i.e., pesticide food maximum residue level, or MRL), and other ecological sections (e.g., air, surface water,

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

, bed

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

, or aquatic organisms).

Definition

Pesticide standard values specify the maximum amount of a

pollutant A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effect, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oi ...

that may be present without prompting some form of regulatory response such as

human health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain ...

and ecological effects. Pesticide standard values are often derived from laboratory

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

data (i.e., animal tests), human or ecological parameters (i.e.,

body weight Human body weight is a person's mass or weight. Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of mass without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoes or heavy accessori ...

, intake rate, lifetime, etc.), and human health risk models such as USEPA and RIVM models. On the other hand, the European Union took a precautionary approach (in accordance with the principles of its environmental policy) before toxicological data was available and provided very strict and protective standards for all pesticides in drinking water.Li, Z. and Jennings, A., 2017. Worldwide regulations of standard values of pesticides for human health risk control: A review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(7), p.826.

Worldwide pesticide standard values

Up till now (November 2017), less than 30% of the worldwide nations have regulated pesticide standard values in surface residential soil, about 50% of the total nations have provided pesticide standard values in drinking water and agricultural foods. Many nations in Africa, Asia, and South America are lacking pesticide standard values for the major human and ecological exposure pathways such as soil, sediment, and water. Pesticide standard values for many current and historical largely used pesticides such as DDT,

aldrin Aldrin is an organochlorine insecticide that was widely used until the 1990s, when it was banned in most countries. Aldrin is a member of the so-called "classic organochlorines" (COC) group of pesticides. COCs enjoyed a very sharp rise in popular ...

, lindane,

glyphosate Glyphosate (IUPAC name: ''N''-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop desiccant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by EPSP inhibitor, inhibiting the plant enzyme 5-en ...

MCPA MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) is a widely used phenoxy herbicide introduced in 1945. It selectively controls broad-leaf weeds in pasture and Cereal, cereal crops. The mode of action of MCPA is as an auxin, which are growth hormones t ...

chlorpyrifos Chlorpyrifos (CPS), also known as chlorpyrifos ethyl, is an organophosphate pesticide that has been used on crops, animals, in buildings, and in other settings, to kill several pests, including insects and worms. It acts on the nervous systems ...

, and

2,4-D 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is usually referred to by its ISO common name 2,4-D. It is a systemic herbicide that kills most broadleaf weeds by causing uncontrolled growth, but most gra ...

often vary over seven, eight, or nine

orders of magnitude In a ratio scale based on powers of ten, the order of magnitude is a measure of the nearness of two figures. Two numbers are "within an order of magnitude" of each other if their ratio is between 1/10 and 10. In other words, the two numbers are wi ...

and are log-normally distributed, which indicates that there is little agreement on the regulation of pesticide standard values among worldwide jurisdictions. Additionally, many worldwide pesticide standard values are not sufficiently low to protect

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

based on human health risk uncertainty bounds calculations and maximum legal contribution estimations.Li, Z. and Jennings, A., 2017. Implied maximum dose analysis of standard values of 25 pesticides based on major human exposure pathways. AIMS Public Health, 4(4), pp.383-398.

References

{{Reflist Pollution control technologies Pesticides Environmental effects of pesticides Environmental standards

Definition

Worldwide pesticide standard values

See also

References