A study on phytosanitary products in protected areas of Spain has revealed the widespread presence of these substances - some banned since 2009 - in the national parks of Doñana and Tablas de Daimiel. Published in the journal Chemosphere, the study assesses the risks and highlights the potential dangers of insecticides such as pyrethroids and chlorpyrifos for aquatic organisms.
The Doñana National Park has been suffering from severe drought problems for over a decade. However, it is not only the lack of water that is worrying, but also its quality. This is reflected in a study, involving the Desertification Research Centre (CIDE, UV-CSIC-GVA), which has detected the widespread presence of phytosanitary products in the national parks of Doñana and Tablas de Daimiel.
The study, aimed at evaluating the environmental impact of agricultural activities in the surroundings of these protected areas and published in Chemosphere, analyses over a hundred hydrophilic and hydrophobic pesticides in water and sediment samples.
"Despite the highest legal protection for national parks, phytosanitary products from nearby agricultural activities are affecting the living organisms that inhabit them. In fact, a previous study by our group already indicated that pesticide accumulation in some bird species in the Doñana National Park reduced their reproductive capacity", says Ethel Eljarrat, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC) and the study’s lead author.
Impact of agricultural activity
In recent years, problems related to intensive agriculture in protected areas have been found due to their potential harm to wildlife. A previous study by the same team had already warned about the presence of some pesticides like bifenthrin, a pyrethroid insecticide banned for agricultural use, in samples of bird eggs collected in Doñana. These findings prompted the continuation of the study to assess the level of contamination in water and sediments around these protected areas.The results reveal the widespread presence of pesticides in Tablas de Daimiel and, especially, in Doñana, where several pesticides banned for agricultural use by the European Union since 2009 have been detected. Their presence in water samples indicates recent activity, according to the study.
"In Doñana and Tablas de Daimiel, the influence of phytosanitary products used in surrounding crops is noticeable, and this contamination can be dangerous for aquatic fauna and biodiversity", summarises Yolanda Picó, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Valencia, CIDE researcher and co-author of the study.
Another interesting finding is the detection of higher levels of contamination at some points where the flow was lower at the time of sampling. "This shows that water scarcity causes an increase in contamination concentration", notes Miguel Éngel Bravo, curator of the Doñana natural area and co-author of the work. The study includes a risk assessment of the presence of pesticides for aquatic organisms.
Led by the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC), the research involved the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) and the Desertification Research Centre (CIDE, UV-CSIC-GVA). The study is part of the project Impact of Agricultural Activities on Fauna in National Parks (APAN), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment in the framework of the Call for Research Grants on topics related to the National Parks Network (2017).
Reference:
A. Peris, Y. Soriano, Y. Picó, M.A. Bravo, G. Blanco, E. Eljarrat. Pesticides in water and sediments from natural protected areas of Spain and their associated ecological risk. Chemosphere, Volume 362, 2024, 142628. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142628A. Peris, Y. Soriano, Y. Picó, M.A. Bravo, G. Blanco, E. Eljarrat. Pesticides in water and sediments from natural protected areas of Spain and their associated ecological risk.Chemosphere, Volume 362, 2024, 142628. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142628