Impact of Pesticides on Ecosystem and Human Health: Risk Assessment Based on Data from the SPRINT Large Scale Monitoring Campaign
Abstract
The SPRINT projects (sprint-h2020.eu) addresses the urgent need to develop a pesticide health risk assessment based on large monitoring programs related to actual presence of pesticide residues in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, indoor dust and human matrices. SPRINT introduces innovative ecosystem and human health indicators and addresses the impact of residue mixtures on ecosystem and human health based on data from a large-scale field campaign conducted in 2021 across Europe and in Argentina. We took about 600 samples across environmental matrices – soil, plant, surface water, sediment, air and indoor dust and blood, urine and feces samples from 670 persons.
Based on field results we tested the single residue and mixtures’ impact on the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem conducting innovative ecotoxicological tests with sensitive indicators. We tested the effects of pesticide mixtures on the soil microbiome composition and enzymes and on native earthworms to assess effects on soil health as important indicators of ecosystem health. For the aquatic ecosystem, innovative indicators were used to address the health effect of pesticide mixtures.
Furthermore, we assessed human health effects of single pesticides and their mixtures on innovative indicators:
1) conducting in vitro tests with colon ileum organoids,
2) assessing effects on the gut microbiome composition,
3) conducting behavioural studies with mice as model organisms,
4) testing effects of high number residue mixtures on innovative indicators using rats as a model. Solution oriented, we highlight pesticide use hotspots based on a global data set, enabling targeted reduction and substitution efforts in support of a transition toward sustainable crop protection.
The SPRINT session provides highly important knowledge needed to solve the urgent questions on how to assess health risk related to real-world pesticide residue occurrence, the actual health effects based on innovative indicators and show the urgent need for a transition to sustainable agriculture. We provide data and a new risk indicator that can be included in new regulations.
SPEAKERS
Violette Geissen, Professor, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands
Daniel Figueiredo, Asst. Professor, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Nina Wieland, PhD candidate, Radboud University, Netherlands Maaike Gerritse, PhD student, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands Benjamin
Vervaet, Asst. Professor, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Eoin Gunnigle, Research Officer, University College Cork, Ireland
Lingtong Gai, Postdoctoral Researcher, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands
Kayode Jegede, Asst. Professor, University of California, Davis, United States Philipp Maeder, PhD student, University of Hohenheim, Germany
Nelson Abrantes, Researcher, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Peter Fantke, Professor, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark