Building Stronger Relationships Between Atmospheric Transport of Pesticides and Environmental Biomarkers

大气迁移途径在农药在环境中移动中的作用通常通过监管变化（取消或限制农药使用）或标签变化（如警告和需要增加缓冲区以保护敏感生境）直接或间接观察到。农药可在大气中以气相或颗粒相从施用现场向场外进行大范围的大气迁移，影响到依赖农业的农村社区。气候变化带来的其他环境压力包括森林火灾发生率增加。大气传输途径使森林火灾产生的细颗粒（直径<2.5微米）和粗颗粒（使用总颗粒或直径<10微米测量）能够移动。与大气中这些颗粒物有关的化学品包括杀虫剂和多环芳烃等半挥发性有机物，进一步影响农村社区的生计和健康。农业对加拿大经济至关重要，2021年草原干旱导致加拿大农作物产量下降（小麦、大麦、燕麦比2020年下降36%、27%、20%）。农民正在管理化学农药应用的高成本，不断变化的法规，市场上缺乏新的配方，以及杂草，疾病和昆虫抗性的增加。公众还关注农药对环境（例如传粉物种）和人类健康的影响。我们的研究是在一个关键的时刻，使下一步建立直接和更强的联系之间的大气传输途径的农药与观察到的影响在环境中的位置。该研究将检查所有环境分区（例如空气（气体和颗粒），土壤，杂草，作物和蜂巢暴露（通过开发非侵入性蜂巢被动采样））中颗粒，农药和多环芳烃（如适用）的发生。通过揭示关系，我们将帮助建立最佳管理实践，以保护农民，养蜂人和农村社区的生命和资源。研究地区包括加拿大大草原，那里种植谷物和油籽（油菜籽）。我们将首先关注萨斯喀彻温省和奥卡诺根山谷的果园和葡萄园，所有这些都对加拿大的经济至关重要。这些农业地区在农药使用模式、作物类型、气候因素方面存在差异，而且靠近森林地区，森林火灾发生率增加。这项工作需要先进的发展和应用的化学分析方法在痕量水平上使用色谱-质谱。我们的目标不仅是将我们的成功扩展到化学农药制剂中的活性成分，而且还扩展到环境中形成的转化产品。 这项研究将确定在环境中的移动路径和新出现的毒性问题。

The role of the atmospheric transport pathway in the movement of pesticides in the environment is often observed directly or indirectly through regulatory change (canceled or restricted pesticide uses) or labeling changes such as warnings and need for an increase in the buffer zone for protection of sensitive habitat. Pesticides can undergo atmospheric transport in the gas or particle phase in the atmosphere from on-application site to off-site over a large geographical scale impacting rural communities dependent on agriculture. Additional environmental pressures from climate change include increased incidence of forest fires. The atmospheric transport pathway enables the movement of fine (diameter <2.5 microns) and coarse particles (measured using total or diameter<10 microns) produced from forest fires. Chemicals associated with these particles in the atmosphere include semi-volatile organics such as pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) further impacting the livelihood and health of rural communities. Agriculture is important to Canada's economy, and with a Prairie drought in 2021 there was a loss in crop production in Canada (wheat, barley, oats down 36, 27, 20 % from 2020). Farmers are managing the high cost of chemical pesticide applications, changing regulations, lack of new formulations in the marketplace, and rise in weed, disease, and insect resistance. There is also public concern regarding the impacts of pesticides on the environment (e.g. pollinator species) and human health. Our research comes at a critical time to enable the next steps in establishing direct and stronger ties between the atmospheric transport pathway of pesticides with the location of observed impacts in the environment. This research will examine the occurrence of particles, pesticides, and PAHs (where applicable) in all environmental compartments (e.g. air (gas and particles), soil, weeds, crops, and beehive exposure (by developing non-invasive beehive passive sampling)). By uncovering relationships, we will aid in establishing best management practices for the protection of lives and resources of farmers, beekeepers, and rural communities. Study areas include the Canadian Prairies, where grains and oilseeds (canola) are grown. We will initially focus on Saskatchewan and the Okanagan Valley with orchards and vineyards, all of which are critical to Canada's economy. These agricultural areas have differences in usage patterns of pesticides, crops types, climatic factors and are near forested areas with increased incidence of forest fires. This work demands advanced development and application of chemical analysis methods at trace levels using chromatography-mass spectrometry. We aim to extend our success not only for active ingredients in chemical pesticide formulations but also for the transformation products formed in the environment.  This research will identify pathways of movement in the environment and new emerging toxicity concerns.