TY - JOUR
T1 - Pesticides Used on Beef Cattle Feed Yards Are Aerially Transported into the Environment Via Particulate Matter
AU - Peterson, Eric M.
AU - Green, Frank B.
AU - Smith, Philip N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Chemical Society.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10/20
Y1 - 2020/10/20
N2 - Considering the recent discovery of veterinary pharmaceutical aerial transport from industrial cattle feeding operations via particulate matter, the objective of this study is to determine the extent to which insecticides are also transported into the environment by total suspended particulates emanating from beef cattle feed yards. Of 16 different pesticides quantified in particulate matter samples collected from beef cattle feed yards, permethrin was detected most frequently at >67% of particulate matter samples and at a mean concentration of 1211.7 ± 781.0 (SE) ng/m3. Imidacloprid was detected at a mean concentration of 62.8 ± 38.2 (SE) ng/m3 or equivalent to published concentrations in dust from treated seed planting activities. When insecticide concentrations observed in this study are projected to all United States of America feed yards, the resulting particulate matter (669,000 kg) could contain enough insecticides (active ingredient mass basis) to kill over a billion honeybees daily. Furthermore, a novel transport pathway for macrocyclic lactone entry into the environment was identified. These data raise concern that nontarget organisms may be exposed to potentially toxic levels of pesticides from beef cattle feed yards.
AB - Considering the recent discovery of veterinary pharmaceutical aerial transport from industrial cattle feeding operations via particulate matter, the objective of this study is to determine the extent to which insecticides are also transported into the environment by total suspended particulates emanating from beef cattle feed yards. Of 16 different pesticides quantified in particulate matter samples collected from beef cattle feed yards, permethrin was detected most frequently at >67% of particulate matter samples and at a mean concentration of 1211.7 ± 781.0 (SE) ng/m3. Imidacloprid was detected at a mean concentration of 62.8 ± 38.2 (SE) ng/m3 or equivalent to published concentrations in dust from treated seed planting activities. When insecticide concentrations observed in this study are projected to all United States of America feed yards, the resulting particulate matter (669,000 kg) could contain enough insecticides (active ingredient mass basis) to kill over a billion honeybees daily. Furthermore, a novel transport pathway for macrocyclic lactone entry into the environment was identified. These data raise concern that nontarget organisms may be exposed to potentially toxic levels of pesticides from beef cattle feed yards.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85093884598&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.0c03603
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.0c03603
M3 - Article
C2 - 32936619
AN - SCOPUS:85093884598
VL - 54
SP - 13008
EP - 13015
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
SN - 0013-936X
IS - 20
ER -