Photocatalytic degradation of four insecticides and their main generated transformation products in soil and pepper crop irrigated with reclaimed agro-wastewater under natural sunlight

Marina Aliste; Isabel Garrido; Pilar Flores; Pilar Hellín; Gabriel Pérez-Lucas; Simón Navarro; José Fenoll

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125603

Photocatalytic degradation of four insecticides and their main generated transformation products in soil and pepper crop irrigated with reclaimed agro-wastewater under natural sunlight

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Jul 15:414:125603. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125603. Epub 2021 Mar 6.

Authors

Marina Aliste¹, Isabel Garrido², Pilar Flores², Pilar Hellín², Gabriel Pérez-Lucas³, Simón Navarro³, José Fenoll⁴

Affiliations

¹ Sustainability and Quality Group of Fruit and Vegetable Products, Murcia Institute of Agri-Food Research and Development, C/ Mayor s/n, La Alberca, 30150 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: marina.aliste@carm.es.
² Sustainability and Quality Group of Fruit and Vegetable Products, Murcia Institute of Agri-Food Research and Development, C/ Mayor s/n, La Alberca, 30150 Murcia, Spain.
³ Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
⁴ Sustainability and Quality Group of Fruit and Vegetable Products, Murcia Institute of Agri-Food Research and Development, C/ Mayor s/n, La Alberca, 30150 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: jose.fenoll@carm.es.

PMID: 34030427
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125603

Abstract

This work is the first-ever study of the concurrence of four insecticides (chlorantraniliprole, imidacloprid, pirimicarb and thiamethoxam) and their main transformation products (TPs) in soil and pepper crop irrigated with reclaimed and non-reclaimed water under agricultural field conditions. Field experiments were conducted using different irrigation supplies: control water (CW), wastewater polluted with phytosanitary commercial products containing the studied insecticides (WW) and reclaimed wastewater after a photocatalytic processing with TiO₂/Na₂S₂O₈ at pilot plant under sunlight (RWW). Photocatalytic treatments removed most of the insecticides and their TPs generated during the photoperiod. Neither target insecticides nor their TPs were detected in pepper samples when CW and RWW were used as irrigation source, whereas the four insecticides and two TPs were detected when WW was used. In the experiment carried out with WW, all insecticides and eight TPs were detected in soil samples. The impact of using reclaimed water on the quality of pepper crop was also assessed, showing barely any significant difference.

Keywords: Agro-wastewater; Pepper; Reclaimed water; Soil; Solar photocatalysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agricultural Irrigation
Insecticides*
Soil
Sunlight
Vegetables
Wastewater*

Substances

Insecticides
Soil
Waste Water