Buffer Zones for Reducing Pesticide Drift to Ditches and Risks to Aquatic Organisms
- 1 September 1998
- journal article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
- Vol. 41 (1), 112-118
- https://doi.org/10.1006/eesa.1998.1678
Abstract
Pesticide drift from field sprayers fitted with different types of spray nozzles was investigated under various wind speed conditions. Droplet drift was measured adjacent to the sprayed field, on the ditch bank, and in the ditch. Measurements were carried out in the normal sprayed situation and with an unsprayed buffer zone 3 or 6 m wide. The results indicate that there are major differences between spray nozzles. Drift deposition increases with wind speed. In the sprayed situation and with a wind speed of 0.5 m/s, there was a maximum of 6.0% drift deposition halfway down the ditch bank and no drift deposition in the ditch. At 3 m/s wind speed these figures are 25.1 and 2.2%, respectively. At 5 m/s wind speed, 7.2% drift deposition was measured in the ditch. Risk assessment (cf. SLOOTBOX model) carried out with 17 pesticides used in the study area indicated that at this wind speed, 8 of the 17 pesticides investigated posed a risk to aquatic organisms. Creation of a 3-m buffer zone decreases drift deposition in the ditch by a minimum of 95%. Adjacent to the buffer zone only 4 of the 17 pesticides investigated posed a (minor) risk to aquatic organisms. With a 6-m buffer zone no drift deposition in the ditch could be measured (wind speed maximum, 4.5 m/s). Creating unsprayed crop edges offers good possibilities for the protection of aquatic ecosystems. Socioeconomic research among farmers indicates that buffer zones, such as unsprayed cereal edges and unsprayed grass strips, could well be adopted in agricultural practice.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Determination of buffer zones to protect seedlings of non-target plants from the effects of glyphosate spray driftAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 1993
- DECISION‐MAKING SCHEME FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTSEPPO Bulletin, 1993
- Insecticide drift from ground-based, hydraulic spraying of peas and brussels sprouts: bioassays for determining buffer zonesAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 1993
- Use of a model and toxicity data to predict the risks to some wild plant species from drift of four herbicidesAnnals of Applied Biology, 1992
- Effect of mecoprop drift on some plant species of conservation interest when grown in standardized mixtures in microcosmsEnvironmental Pollution, 1991
- Bioassays of insecticide spray drift: the effects of wind speed on the mortality of Pieris brassicae larvae (Lepidoptera) caused by diflubenzuronAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 1991
- Effects of herbicide spray drift on selected species of nature conservation interest: The effects of plant age and surrounding vegetation structureEnvironmental Pollution, 1991
- Reduced pesticide inputs on cereal field margins: the effects on butterfly abundanceEcological Entomology, 1990
- Buffer zone widths for honeybees from ground and aerial spraying of insecticidesEnvironmental Pollution, 1990
- Assessment of the effects of herbicide spray drift on a range of plant species of conservation interestEnvironmental Pollution, 1989