Drift from the use of handheld knapsack pesticide sprayers in Boyacá (Colombian Andes)

García-Santos, G., Feola, G., Nuyttens, D. and Diaz, J. (2016) Drift from the use of handheld knapsack pesticide sprayers in Boyacá (Colombian Andes). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64 (20). pp. 3990-3998. ISSN 0021-8561 doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b03772

Abstract/Summary

Offsite pesticide losses in tropical mountainous regions have been little studied. One example is measuring pesticide drift soil deposition, which can support pesticide risk assessment for surface water, soil, bystanders, off target plants and fauna. This is considered a serious gap, given the evidence of pesticide-related poisoning in those regions. Empirical data of drift deposition of a pesticide surrogate, Uranine tracer, within one of the highest potato producing regions in Colombia, characterized by small plots and mountain orography, is presented. High drift values encountered in our study reflect the actual spray conditions using handled knapsack sprayers. Comparison between measured and predicted drift values using three existing empirical equations showed important underestimation. However, after their optimization based on measured drift information, the equations showed a strong predictive power for this study area and the study conditions. The most suitable curve to assess mean relative drift was the IMAG calculator after optimization.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/45170
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science
Publisher	American Chemical Society
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