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Environmental aspects of pesticide use in Italian agriculture
The Science oft he Total Environment, 129 (1993) 125-135 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
125
Environmental aspects of pelsticide use in Italian
agriculture A. Donati a, A. Giolitti b, N. Marchettini a, C. Rossi a, E. Tiezzi a and S. Ulgiati ~ aDepartment of Chemistry, University of Siena, Italy, Plan dei Manteilini n.44, 53100, Siena, Italy, bOIKOS, International Foundation for Ecological Economics, Villa di Basciano, 53010, Quercegrossa, Siena, Italy CDepartment of Chemistry, University of Sassari, via Vie't~nan.2, 07100, Sassari, Italy
ABSTRACT Pesticides used in agriculture accumulate in organisms and reach man through complex metabolic pathways. Accurate analysis of pesticides presence in each step of the food chain is necessary because of the high number of these substances, their potential toxicity and the presence of amplified toxic effects due to synergic interactions. In the same way it is necessary to evaluate the environmental effects of the whole pesticides cycle, from industrial production until final disposal of used containers and residuals. Furthermore recent introduction of new categorie~ of chemicals which are not strictly classifiable as pesticides (photosynthetic activity stimulators, aesthetic aspect enhancers) and not yet sufficiently studied in their metabolic behaviour, increase the problem complexity. Complete studies about these complex problems and about the effects on ecosystems have not yet been carried out in Italy, due to ambiguous laws and regulations, inadequate data collection methods and decisional influence of the chemical industry on agriculture policy.
Key words: pesticides; Italian agriculture; environmental policy; environmental impact; pesticide pollution
INTRODUCTION
Modem technology and, in particular, the recent progress of chemical industry have led to the production of a quantitatively high number of chemical substances. Industrial production for agriculture is not an exception: for example more than 60 000 pesticides containing not less than 500 active, highly toxic constituents have been introduced in the United States alone, since the beginning of the seventies [1].
126
A. DONAT! El" A L
Parasite control in industrialized agriculture is not assured anymore by rotation techniques and natural antagonists. The lack of intrinsic stability of agricultural systems is the cause, in modern agriculture, of the introduction of external stabilizers (anticryptogamics, insecticides, herbicides, etc.), supported by massive fossil energy inputs. The simplification - - instead of diversification - - of agricultural ecosystems is the cause of the instability of the tilled soil and the surrounding environment and generates a worrying crisis of sustainability. Some of these chemical substances seem not to be harmful per se, while others are highly toxic even in small quantities. They can give rise to acute toxicity effects or to chronic ones, which appear after a long period of time. Furthermore, in the majority of the cases, they may interact with each other and give rise to synergic effects not easily detectable. The main problem is that distribution of pesticides in the environment might damage some species at different steps of the food chain. The bioaccumulation from atrophic level to another is of the order of magnitude of 10-100 times, so that a top organism of the food chain may contain concentration levels of pesticides even thousands of times more than those at the lower level (for example water). The list of physically and chemically active substances which have toxic effects is very long. It is impossible to forbid them all. This can be done only for some exceptional cases. Lists of banned products should be continuously updated because of the introduction of new products by industry and chemical research. Control of such regulations seems very difficult to attain. New analysis methods, based on a global and systemic view on the problem, are necessary to evaluate the biological consequences determined by the high number and complex behaviour of pesticides. METHODOLOGICAL LIMITS OF CONVENTIONAL INVESTIGATION
In Italy, the risk analysis of pesticides faces enormous problems. It is very difficult to get reliable and comparable data. In fact they are very often provided late (even with a delay of 2 or 3 years as in the case of ISTAT, National Institute of Statistics) and the values differ per supplying source [2,3]. Sometimes data are summed up in meaningless total values, which may hide the real trend of specific products: e.g. in the case of products which are amended to the soil in quantities of different orders of magnitude, because of their different chemical behaviour and toxicity. Subdivision in toxicity classes is the only really useful aggregation for a significant analysis. Furthermore, sometimes a retrospective comparison with years before is lacking or this comparison is made only on a national scale. The average national values of the data very often hide a large diversity between regions. Data
127
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
from local situations (at regional and district scale) might provide more valid and useful information. Finally, the introduction on the market of new chemicals (for example IBS fungicides, sterol synthesis inhibitors, or IGR, growth regulators insecticides), rapidly spreading to substitute previous substances, is not accompanied by actual statistical research. Consequently, registration of incidents or systematic research of environmental effects will usually take place only some years later. Intrinsic methodological limitations add to the mentioned problems: it is not possible to take into account simultaneously each factor influencing agricultural productivity (for example climatic and pedologic factors) as well as each factor of synergic interaction among appreciated compounds. We are therefore far from a sufficiently thorough analysis of pesticide use in Italian agriculture.
TABLE 1 Pesticides used in Italian agriculture in the period 1984-1988 (10 4 kg) (see Ref. 3) Pesticide
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Insecticides Based on: Anthracene and oil derivatives Vegetable and biological origin Organochlorines Organophosphates Other organic compounds Mixtures
84i.4
608.4
783.5
740.6
915.6
3.1 191.2 2199.0
1.9 213.1 2095.5
2. ! 156.2 1978.3
3.8 145.8 1905.3
22.3 157.8 2031.5
387.8 17.8
390.5 16.8
405.9 23.9
472.1 31.2
4980.0 57.0
Anticryptogamics Inorganic compounds Organic compounds Mixtures
4759.2 2085.3 1608.6
5021.3 1972.7 1518.6
5968.8 1944.2 1460.4
7934.8 1884.5 i 649.2
7953.3 2024.0 1630.9
523.3
194.3
257.2
257.4
116.5
Fumigants nematocides
1256.8
952.6
1032.2
1072.5
1265.4
Herbicides Inorganic compounds Organic compounds
27.7 2800.7
23.2 2829.3
41.5 2936.2
43. i 3090.8
43.3 3067.4
Acaricides
128
A. DONATI ET AL,
PESTICIDES IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
An overall increase of pesticide input in the period 1984-1988 is shown in Table 1. This increase is not constant through the years: an irregular trend is observed for some compounds (anthracene and oil derivatives, organophosphates, organic anticryptogamics and inorganic herbicides). Organochlorines and acaricides compounds maintained a constant negative trend: that might be explained by severe limitations imposed by law. For example, lindanc use i~ only permitted in soil before the seeding of sugar beets, in seed treatmetR and in conservation of stored cereals [4]. Lindane traces have even been detected in waters along the Tyrrhenian coast [2]. Data from the period 1984-88 are not indicative of agriculture conversion to cleaner technologies and practices. However, there are two positive aspects: (a) the increase of vegetable or biological pesticides; this increase, even if about 700%, is not yet significant in respect of the total amount of pesticide use; (b) the increase of copper and sulphur inorganic anticryptogamics, characterized by relatively low toxicity. It should be underlined that in the last years herbicides have heavily polluted water-bearing strata. In Table 2 we can observe that a relevant diffusion of new herbicide compounds follows the decrease of some polluting products (for example, atrazine and molinate) which are not sold any more or severely limited by law. Therefore, agricultural practice in general is not developing innovative cultural technologies, but continues to use chemicals, which can be the source of hardly foreseeable negative consequences. A comparison with other European countries is hardly feasible, due to different methods for data collection and incomplete coverage [5]. In Table 3 pesticide distribution per toxicity class and Italian region is shown; it can be easily deduced that only four northern regions (i.e. Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piemonte and Lombardia, together comprising 27.6% of
TABLE 2 Selected herbicides used in Italian agriculture in the period 1984-1988 (104 kg) (see Ref. 3) Herb~ide
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Atrazine Molinate Alachlor Propanil
408.5 542.5 112.2 135.9
382.5 496.9 157.1 158.6
320.9 417.2 197.0 212.8
222.7 194.7 355.3 314.3
149.3 228.6 347.9 213.4
811 4 1 i 76 230 2346 299 251 4210 549 129 394 1563 370 118 1638 2646 268 329 2856 264 20 151
I
Class
4.03 0.02 5.84 1.14 11.64 i.48 i.24 20.89 1.24 0.64 1.95 7.76 ! .83 0.58 8.13 13.13 1.33 1.63 14.17 1.31 100.00
I (%) 134 9 245 223 2738 38 50 4153 92 1! 41 1012 19~ 1~ 90~" 27~ 8~ 44 1224 57 11 549
II I. 16 0.08 2.12 1.93 23.71 0.33 0.43 35.96 0.79 0.10 0.35 8.77 1.68 0.11 7.85 2.39 0.76 0.38 10.60 0.49 100.00
II (%) 9391 1~5 9492 3661 1i 322 2371 1577 12 992 4312 1513 2408 5080 2396 423 8512 8724 1484 2033 6840 1619 96 260
III 9.76 0.11 9.86 3.80 11.76 2.46 1.64 13.50 4.48 1.57 2.50 5.28 2.49 0.44 8.84 9.06 1.54 2. ! 1 7. I 1 1.68 100.00
Ill (%) 6680 7 4468 2001 6861 878 949 7916 3175 1884 2589 5693 2217 378 5100 7055 1192 2003 8312 2686 72 323
IV
9.24 0.01 6.18 2.77 9.49 1.21 !.3 l 10.95 4.39 2.61 3.58 7.87 3.07 0.52 7.05 9.76 1.65 2.77 11.49 3.71 100.00
IV (%)
Toxicity classification follows Italian regulations before May 24th, 1988.. Compounds containing an active ingredient concentratio~ with LDs0 < 50 ppm were included in the first class (the most toxic); the second class is characterized by 50 ppm < LDs0 < 500 ppm; the third class by LDs0 > 500 ppm; in the fourth class substances with negligeable toxicity for man were included. Between May 24th, 1988 and t~,e end of 1990 Italian regulations conformed to EEC Directives (see the text) but it is too soon for statistics based on the new classification.
Piemonte Valle d'Aosta Lombardia Trentino Alto Adige Veneto Friuli V . G . Liguria Emilia Romagna Toscana Umbria Marche Lazio Abruzzi Molise Campania Puglia Basilicata Calabria Sicilia Sardegna Italia
Region
Distribution of pesticides per toxicity class and region (1988; 103 kg) (see Ref. 3)
TABLE 3
t~
tma
en
t.., -.4
fb
z
r-
F~
M
O wl
130
A. DONATiEl"AL.
TABLE 4 Utilized agricultural surface (UAS) and use per hectare of pesticides per toxicity class and region (1988; 103 ha; kg ha -l) (see Ref. 3) Region
Class UAS
Piemonte Valle d'Aosta Lombardia Trentino A.A. Veneto Friuli V.G. Liguria Emilia Romagna Toscana Umbria Marche Lazio Abruzzi Molise Campania Puglia Basilicata Calabria Sicilia Sardegna Italia
UAS (%) I/UAS
II/UAS
III/UAS
IV/UAS
1245 100 1193 402 913 305 109 1305 971 453 614 928 583 294 837 1584 661 787 1940 1622
7.39 0.59 7.08 2.39 5.42 !.81 0.65 '7.75 5.76 2.69 3.65 5.51 3.46 1.74 4.97 9.40 3.92 4.67 11.52 9.63
0.65 0.04 0.99 0.57 2.57 0.98 2.29 3.23 0.26 0.28 0.64 1.69 0.63 0.40 1.96 1.67 0.41 0.42 1.47 0.16
0.11 0.09 0.21 0.55 3.00 0.13 0.45 3.18 0.09 0.02 0.07 1.09 0.33 0.04 1.08 0.17 0.13 0.06 0.63 0.04
7.54 1.10 7.96 9.10 12.40 7.78 14.41 9.96 4.44 3.34 3.92 5.48 4.11 1.44 10.17 5.51 2.25 2.58 3.53 1.00
5.36 0.07 3.75 4.97 7.51 ?.88 8.b7 6.07 3.2? 4.16 4.21 6.14 3.80 1.28 6.09 4.45 1.80 2.54 4.28 1.66
16 845
100.00
1.20
0.69
5.71
4.29
For the description of the toxicity classes: see Table 3.
the national agricultural surface) use almost half of the total amount of pesticides (respectively, 42, 63, 45 and 36% in the four toxicity classes). Regional pesticide use (in kg/ha) is reported in Table 4. Data from northem regions show little variation with the exception of mountain regions such as Valle d'Aosta and Trentino Alto Adige, while central and southern regions show a very high diversity. This fact can be deeper understood if we examine, for example, some districts (Latina, Napoli and Ragusa) belonging to three central of southern regions, respectively to Lazio, Campania and Sicilia. Percentages of pesticides used in the three districts, relatively to the four toxicity classes, are:
131
ENVIRONMENTAL A3PECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
m in Latina, 72, 74, 37 and 12%; in Napoli, 35, 46, 41 and 19%; m in Ragusa, 56, 88, 17 and 10%;
with respect to the regional total. Very high values result particularly in the first two classes, which are characterized by a higher toxicity; therefore, the values of regional averages can be explained by the presence of small areas where pesticide use is concentrated. In these areas health risk is consequently very high for the local population. This fact becomes clearer after examining the pesticide use per hectare (Table 5). It cannot be excluded that some northern regions also could show a similar situation. Nevertheless, in central and southern regions this fact is of particular importance, because it confirms the simultaneous presence of two kinds of agriculture: a poor agriculture, characterized by low capital input per hectare and consequently less environmental impact, and a rich one, highly intensive, but more dangerous. PESTICIDES IN AGRICULTURAL SOIL
Determining the chemical input to the soil is only a part of the analysis of the impact of pesticide~. One should evaluate the consequences of pes*.icide use during the whole cycle, from production to disposal. Important
TABLE 5 Utilized agricultural surface (UAS) and pesticide use per hectare in selected areas of Central and South Italy per toxicity class (1988; 103 ha; kg ha -I) (see Ref. 3) Class Area
UAS
UAS
I/UAS
II/UAS
III/UAS IV/UAS
(%) District: Within region:
Latina Lazio
! 24 928
13.36 100.00
9.06 1.69
6.06 1.09
15.01 5.48
5.61 6.14
District: Within region:
Napoli Campania
58 837
6.92 100.00
9.85 1.96
7.27 1.08
60.01 10.17
16.82 6.09
District: Within region:
Ragusa Sicilia
%01 1!.84 100.00 .1.47
7.96 0.63
8.77 3.53
5.83 4.28
136 1940
For the description of the toxicity classes: see Table 3,
132
A. DONATI El" AL.
points of the cycle are those where interactions between pesticide and environment take place, with particular attention to man. We point out these interactions: (a) (b) (c) (d)
environmental impact of pesticide producing industry; health risk for agricultural operator; pesticide influence on the quality of potable water; containers and toxic residue disposal.
In relation to point (a) the history of chemical industry shows a great number of small and large incidents. We all remember the Bhopal incident in India. A large number of incidents have happened in Italy too. For example, the case of ICMESA plant at Seveso and the case of Farmoplant at Massa Carrara; this last factory was closed in 1987 together with AnicEniChem plant at Montignoso, after a popular referendum [6]. ICMESA produced trichlorophenol, an intermediate substance in the production of trichlorofenoxyacetic acid, a herbicide: on 10/7/1976 a chemical reactor explosion caused the output of a very large amount of dioxin. Anic-EniChem produced pesticides: on 12/3/1984 a toxic cloud containing dioxins was diffused into the atmosphere, by a fault in the production process of FS 1 herbicide (used as herbicide by state railways). Farmoplant produced pesticides too: among them, insecticides such as the highly toxic Rogor (dimethoate). On 16/12/1987 Farmoplant was again allowed to work by the Regional Administratiw~ Court: on 17/7/1988 the explosion and combustion of a reservoir containing 20 tons of Rogor polluted a large area of the Massa district and more than 15 km of coast and sea. After this last incident, the factory was finally closed by the Minister for the. Environment. Chemical plants producing pesticides or their intermediate products are diffused all around the national territory, exposing large, densely populated areas to risk [7]. Industrial secrecy, threats of unemp!oyment and the lack of publicly spread information permit pesticides to begin their environmental adventure before their input into the agricultural soil. There is no doubt that laws on pesticides should also take into account this industrial production step. With regard to point (b), usually a lot of advice is given to farmers in order to promote caution in preparing and managing pesticides. This advice is very often neglected. In case of poisoning there are twelve medical centres specialized in pesticide intoxication; most of them (eight) are localized in northern regions of Italy. One positive step in improving farmers' awareness of these risks was the Health Ministry Circular No. 37 dated 29/12/1988 [8], where a training course is prescribed to get the licence for buying and selling pesticides of the first and second class of toxicity. Until 24/5/1988, only 15%
133
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTUaE
TABLE 6 Atrazine pollution of water-bearing strata in Lombardia (1986; 10-6 g dm -3) (see Ref. 11) Source
Checked wells (N)
< O.1 (At)
< O.1 (%)
O.1-1 (N)
O.1-1 (%)
>1 (N)
> 1 (%)
Public wells Private wells
2005 956
! 695 359
84.5 37.5
281 536
14.0 56.1
29 61
1.4 6.4
of pesticides were included in the first and second, class of toxicity: consequently, only a small number of farmers needed this licence. A new classification of pesticides was adopted in the law No. 223 of 24/5/1988 [9] following the EEC Directives Nos. 78/631, 81/187 and 84/291. According to the new regulations, ~knost.80% of the pesticides have been included in the two first toxicity classes [10,11]: thus a greater number of farmers will need the prescribed licence. A period of 2 years was foreseen by Health Ministry for the organization of these courses in all Regions, so it is still too soon for a statistical evaluation of the attendance. The mass media have paid much attention to water quality in recent years (point c). Concentrations of herbicides (atrazine, molinate and bentazon) largely exceeding EEC limits [12] have been found in the water-bearing strata of the Po Valley. In 1986, extremely high concentrations of atrazine were found in wells of potable water in some parts of Lombardia [13]. Research data (Table 6) show that pollution was much higher in private than in public wells. The polluted water was declared 'drinkable' by a Health Ministry ordinance which raised allowable limits [14]. When levels returned within the originally accepted values, the EEC limits were reinstated. Atrazine was finally banned by a Government ordinance of 24/3/1990. Some other EEC directives have been introduced by the 18/7/90 Ordinance [15], listing the maximum limits for toxic residues and safety ranges for pesticides in foods, updating and integrating the previous one of 1985. It is clear that the problem is not yet resolved: the partial or complete elimination of certain polluting compounds can be easily overruled, as already happens, by the introduction of new compounds, of which the toxicity for man is not yet known. If an appropriate prevention policy is not adopted, the problem is likely to be postponed and will emerge again unchanged or worsened, after some years~ Finally, with regard to final disposal of pesticide containers (point d), current laws provide that they have to be disposed in authorized landfills for toxic residues or should be thermo-degraded in appropriate plants. There are only eight authorized and controlled landfills in Italy, all situated in northern
134
A. DONATIETAL.
regions. There are only two thermo-degradation plants, which belong to private companies: therefore they are hardly accessible for small users. In consequence of these factors, the situation does not seem favourable. Moreover, the question of the final disposal ~,i""pesticide containers in areas lacking such centres remains to be answered. CONCLUSIONS
Quantitative data analysis is not sufficient to understand the complex problem of pesticide use in agricultural activity. New dynamic and systemic models for data sampling and analyzing are urgently required, in order to clarify one of the more obscure aspects of modem industrialized agriculture. It is necessary to elaborate regulations by including the overall cycle of production and use of pesticides: an efficient action cannot be based on merely sectoral analysis. Noteworthy results have been obtained by some Italian Regions in rationalizing pesticide use (amounts and supply intervals), in order to reduce the overall quantity utilized in conventional agriculture. Such policy should be extended to the whole national territory. Nevertheless, a good number of pilot experiences suggest that better results could be obtained by a policy of integrated pest management and biological agriculture [16]. A national incentive policy for biological agriculture does not exist as yet. Regional attempts had no real influence on agricultural production: the situation appears to be static. An urgent and radical action is needed, in order to support the gradual development of agricultural practices towards techniques with lower environmental impact. REFERENCES 1 R.A. Vollenweider, Energy, pollution and the disruption of environment equilibria, Proceedings of the Iaternational Meeting, Giornate internazionali di biologia: le vie della soprawivenza, Napoli (Italy), March 5-7, 1982, pp. 9-46. 2 Ambiente Italia, Annual Report, Lcga per l'Ambiente editor, ISEDI Publishing House, Torino 1989, pp. 170-180. 3 ISTAT, lstituto Nazionale di Statistica, Annual Report No. 36, Statistiche dell'agricoltura, zootecnia e mezzi di produzione, 1990. 4 J. Fabbricatore Amici, Sostanze attive autorizzate in agricoltura (Chemical Ingredients Authorized for Agricultural Use), Istituto Sperimentale per la Patologia Vegetale, Roma, 1988. 5 FAO, Production, Yearbook Number 43, FAO, Rome, 1989. 6 Eureta Newsletter, Number 1, January, 1988, p. 48. 7 C. Ravaioli and E. Tiezzi, Bugle, Silenzi e Grida (Lies, Silence and Screams), Garzanti Publishing House, Milan, 1989, 450 pp. 8 Health Ministry Circular, Number 37. Gaz. Off., 4 (January 5th) 1989.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
135
9 Gazzetta Ufficiale della Republica Italiana (Suppl.), Number 146, June 23rd, 1988. 10 Government Decree, Regarding the Norms for the Classification, Packing and Labelling of Pesticides (Number 258), August 2nd. 1990. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 213 (1990) August 12th. 11 Circular, No. 20, September 3rd, 1990, l~zamining the Practical Aspects of Pesticides Registration Legislation. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 2i6 (1990) September 15th. 12 EEC, Directives Relating to the Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption. L229 (1980) August 20th. 13 AA.VV.,Agricultura Ambiente, Vol. 1, Pitagora Publishing House, Bologna, 1988, pp. 143-216. 14 Health Ministry Ordinance, Number 135, April 3rd 1987; Number 217, May 30th 1987. I.~ Health Ministry Ordinance, July 18th 1990. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 202 (1990) August 30th. 16 ENEA and RENAGRI, Agricoltura e Innovazione. Doss. Agric. Biol., 12 (1990) 41-107.
125
Environmental aspects of pelsticide use in Italian
agriculture A. Donati a, A. Giolitti b, N. Marchettini a, C. Rossi a, E. Tiezzi a and S. Ulgiati ~ aDepartment of Chemistry, University of Siena, Italy, Plan dei Manteilini n.44, 53100, Siena, Italy, bOIKOS, International Foundation for Ecological Economics, Villa di Basciano, 53010, Quercegrossa, Siena, Italy CDepartment of Chemistry, University of Sassari, via Vie't~nan.2, 07100, Sassari, Italy
ABSTRACT Pesticides used in agriculture accumulate in organisms and reach man through complex metabolic pathways. Accurate analysis of pesticides presence in each step of the food chain is necessary because of the high number of these substances, their potential toxicity and the presence of amplified toxic effects due to synergic interactions. In the same way it is necessary to evaluate the environmental effects of the whole pesticides cycle, from industrial production until final disposal of used containers and residuals. Furthermore recent introduction of new categorie~ of chemicals which are not strictly classifiable as pesticides (photosynthetic activity stimulators, aesthetic aspect enhancers) and not yet sufficiently studied in their metabolic behaviour, increase the problem complexity. Complete studies about these complex problems and about the effects on ecosystems have not yet been carried out in Italy, due to ambiguous laws and regulations, inadequate data collection methods and decisional influence of the chemical industry on agriculture policy.
Key words: pesticides; Italian agriculture; environmental policy; environmental impact; pesticide pollution
INTRODUCTION
Modem technology and, in particular, the recent progress of chemical industry have led to the production of a quantitatively high number of chemical substances. Industrial production for agriculture is not an exception: for example more than 60 000 pesticides containing not less than 500 active, highly toxic constituents have been introduced in the United States alone, since the beginning of the seventies [1].
126
A. DONAT! El" A L
Parasite control in industrialized agriculture is not assured anymore by rotation techniques and natural antagonists. The lack of intrinsic stability of agricultural systems is the cause, in modern agriculture, of the introduction of external stabilizers (anticryptogamics, insecticides, herbicides, etc.), supported by massive fossil energy inputs. The simplification - - instead of diversification - - of agricultural ecosystems is the cause of the instability of the tilled soil and the surrounding environment and generates a worrying crisis of sustainability. Some of these chemical substances seem not to be harmful per se, while others are highly toxic even in small quantities. They can give rise to acute toxicity effects or to chronic ones, which appear after a long period of time. Furthermore, in the majority of the cases, they may interact with each other and give rise to synergic effects not easily detectable. The main problem is that distribution of pesticides in the environment might damage some species at different steps of the food chain. The bioaccumulation from atrophic level to another is of the order of magnitude of 10-100 times, so that a top organism of the food chain may contain concentration levels of pesticides even thousands of times more than those at the lower level (for example water). The list of physically and chemically active substances which have toxic effects is very long. It is impossible to forbid them all. This can be done only for some exceptional cases. Lists of banned products should be continuously updated because of the introduction of new products by industry and chemical research. Control of such regulations seems very difficult to attain. New analysis methods, based on a global and systemic view on the problem, are necessary to evaluate the biological consequences determined by the high number and complex behaviour of pesticides. METHODOLOGICAL LIMITS OF CONVENTIONAL INVESTIGATION
In Italy, the risk analysis of pesticides faces enormous problems. It is very difficult to get reliable and comparable data. In fact they are very often provided late (even with a delay of 2 or 3 years as in the case of ISTAT, National Institute of Statistics) and the values differ per supplying source [2,3]. Sometimes data are summed up in meaningless total values, which may hide the real trend of specific products: e.g. in the case of products which are amended to the soil in quantities of different orders of magnitude, because of their different chemical behaviour and toxicity. Subdivision in toxicity classes is the only really useful aggregation for a significant analysis. Furthermore, sometimes a retrospective comparison with years before is lacking or this comparison is made only on a national scale. The average national values of the data very often hide a large diversity between regions. Data
127
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
from local situations (at regional and district scale) might provide more valid and useful information. Finally, the introduction on the market of new chemicals (for example IBS fungicides, sterol synthesis inhibitors, or IGR, growth regulators insecticides), rapidly spreading to substitute previous substances, is not accompanied by actual statistical research. Consequently, registration of incidents or systematic research of environmental effects will usually take place only some years later. Intrinsic methodological limitations add to the mentioned problems: it is not possible to take into account simultaneously each factor influencing agricultural productivity (for example climatic and pedologic factors) as well as each factor of synergic interaction among appreciated compounds. We are therefore far from a sufficiently thorough analysis of pesticide use in Italian agriculture.
TABLE 1 Pesticides used in Italian agriculture in the period 1984-1988 (10 4 kg) (see Ref. 3) Pesticide
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Insecticides Based on: Anthracene and oil derivatives Vegetable and biological origin Organochlorines Organophosphates Other organic compounds Mixtures
84i.4
608.4
783.5
740.6
915.6
3.1 191.2 2199.0
1.9 213.1 2095.5
2. ! 156.2 1978.3
3.8 145.8 1905.3
22.3 157.8 2031.5
387.8 17.8
390.5 16.8
405.9 23.9
472.1 31.2
4980.0 57.0
Anticryptogamics Inorganic compounds Organic compounds Mixtures
4759.2 2085.3 1608.6
5021.3 1972.7 1518.6
5968.8 1944.2 1460.4
7934.8 1884.5 i 649.2
7953.3 2024.0 1630.9
523.3
194.3
257.2
257.4
116.5
Fumigants nematocides
1256.8
952.6
1032.2
1072.5
1265.4
Herbicides Inorganic compounds Organic compounds
27.7 2800.7
23.2 2829.3
41.5 2936.2
43. i 3090.8
43.3 3067.4
Acaricides
128
A. DONATI ET AL,
PESTICIDES IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
An overall increase of pesticide input in the period 1984-1988 is shown in Table 1. This increase is not constant through the years: an irregular trend is observed for some compounds (anthracene and oil derivatives, organophosphates, organic anticryptogamics and inorganic herbicides). Organochlorines and acaricides compounds maintained a constant negative trend: that might be explained by severe limitations imposed by law. For example, lindanc use i~ only permitted in soil before the seeding of sugar beets, in seed treatmetR and in conservation of stored cereals [4]. Lindane traces have even been detected in waters along the Tyrrhenian coast [2]. Data from the period 1984-88 are not indicative of agriculture conversion to cleaner technologies and practices. However, there are two positive aspects: (a) the increase of vegetable or biological pesticides; this increase, even if about 700%, is not yet significant in respect of the total amount of pesticide use; (b) the increase of copper and sulphur inorganic anticryptogamics, characterized by relatively low toxicity. It should be underlined that in the last years herbicides have heavily polluted water-bearing strata. In Table 2 we can observe that a relevant diffusion of new herbicide compounds follows the decrease of some polluting products (for example, atrazine and molinate) which are not sold any more or severely limited by law. Therefore, agricultural practice in general is not developing innovative cultural technologies, but continues to use chemicals, which can be the source of hardly foreseeable negative consequences. A comparison with other European countries is hardly feasible, due to different methods for data collection and incomplete coverage [5]. In Table 3 pesticide distribution per toxicity class and Italian region is shown; it can be easily deduced that only four northern regions (i.e. Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piemonte and Lombardia, together comprising 27.6% of
TABLE 2 Selected herbicides used in Italian agriculture in the period 1984-1988 (104 kg) (see Ref. 3) Herb~ide
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
Atrazine Molinate Alachlor Propanil
408.5 542.5 112.2 135.9
382.5 496.9 157.1 158.6
320.9 417.2 197.0 212.8
222.7 194.7 355.3 314.3
149.3 228.6 347.9 213.4
811 4 1 i 76 230 2346 299 251 4210 549 129 394 1563 370 118 1638 2646 268 329 2856 264 20 151
I
Class
4.03 0.02 5.84 1.14 11.64 i.48 i.24 20.89 1.24 0.64 1.95 7.76 ! .83 0.58 8.13 13.13 1.33 1.63 14.17 1.31 100.00
I (%) 134 9 245 223 2738 38 50 4153 92 1! 41 1012 19~ 1~ 90~" 27~ 8~ 44 1224 57 11 549
II I. 16 0.08 2.12 1.93 23.71 0.33 0.43 35.96 0.79 0.10 0.35 8.77 1.68 0.11 7.85 2.39 0.76 0.38 10.60 0.49 100.00
II (%) 9391 1~5 9492 3661 1i 322 2371 1577 12 992 4312 1513 2408 5080 2396 423 8512 8724 1484 2033 6840 1619 96 260
III 9.76 0.11 9.86 3.80 11.76 2.46 1.64 13.50 4.48 1.57 2.50 5.28 2.49 0.44 8.84 9.06 1.54 2. ! 1 7. I 1 1.68 100.00
Ill (%) 6680 7 4468 2001 6861 878 949 7916 3175 1884 2589 5693 2217 378 5100 7055 1192 2003 8312 2686 72 323
IV
9.24 0.01 6.18 2.77 9.49 1.21 !.3 l 10.95 4.39 2.61 3.58 7.87 3.07 0.52 7.05 9.76 1.65 2.77 11.49 3.71 100.00
IV (%)
Toxicity classification follows Italian regulations before May 24th, 1988.. Compounds containing an active ingredient concentratio~ with LDs0 < 50 ppm were included in the first class (the most toxic); the second class is characterized by 50 ppm < LDs0 < 500 ppm; the third class by LDs0 > 500 ppm; in the fourth class substances with negligeable toxicity for man were included. Between May 24th, 1988 and t~,e end of 1990 Italian regulations conformed to EEC Directives (see the text) but it is too soon for statistics based on the new classification.
Piemonte Valle d'Aosta Lombardia Trentino Alto Adige Veneto Friuli V . G . Liguria Emilia Romagna Toscana Umbria Marche Lazio Abruzzi Molise Campania Puglia Basilicata Calabria Sicilia Sardegna Italia
Region
Distribution of pesticides per toxicity class and region (1988; 103 kg) (see Ref. 3)
TABLE 3
t~
tma
en
t.., -.4
fb
z
r-
F~
M
O wl
130
A. DONATiEl"AL.
TABLE 4 Utilized agricultural surface (UAS) and use per hectare of pesticides per toxicity class and region (1988; 103 ha; kg ha -l) (see Ref. 3) Region
Class UAS
Piemonte Valle d'Aosta Lombardia Trentino A.A. Veneto Friuli V.G. Liguria Emilia Romagna Toscana Umbria Marche Lazio Abruzzi Molise Campania Puglia Basilicata Calabria Sicilia Sardegna Italia
UAS (%) I/UAS
II/UAS
III/UAS
IV/UAS
1245 100 1193 402 913 305 109 1305 971 453 614 928 583 294 837 1584 661 787 1940 1622
7.39 0.59 7.08 2.39 5.42 !.81 0.65 '7.75 5.76 2.69 3.65 5.51 3.46 1.74 4.97 9.40 3.92 4.67 11.52 9.63
0.65 0.04 0.99 0.57 2.57 0.98 2.29 3.23 0.26 0.28 0.64 1.69 0.63 0.40 1.96 1.67 0.41 0.42 1.47 0.16
0.11 0.09 0.21 0.55 3.00 0.13 0.45 3.18 0.09 0.02 0.07 1.09 0.33 0.04 1.08 0.17 0.13 0.06 0.63 0.04
7.54 1.10 7.96 9.10 12.40 7.78 14.41 9.96 4.44 3.34 3.92 5.48 4.11 1.44 10.17 5.51 2.25 2.58 3.53 1.00
5.36 0.07 3.75 4.97 7.51 ?.88 8.b7 6.07 3.2? 4.16 4.21 6.14 3.80 1.28 6.09 4.45 1.80 2.54 4.28 1.66
16 845
100.00
1.20
0.69
5.71
4.29
For the description of the toxicity classes: see Table 3.
the national agricultural surface) use almost half of the total amount of pesticides (respectively, 42, 63, 45 and 36% in the four toxicity classes). Regional pesticide use (in kg/ha) is reported in Table 4. Data from northem regions show little variation with the exception of mountain regions such as Valle d'Aosta and Trentino Alto Adige, while central and southern regions show a very high diversity. This fact can be deeper understood if we examine, for example, some districts (Latina, Napoli and Ragusa) belonging to three central of southern regions, respectively to Lazio, Campania and Sicilia. Percentages of pesticides used in the three districts, relatively to the four toxicity classes, are:
131
ENVIRONMENTAL A3PECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
m in Latina, 72, 74, 37 and 12%; in Napoli, 35, 46, 41 and 19%; m in Ragusa, 56, 88, 17 and 10%;
with respect to the regional total. Very high values result particularly in the first two classes, which are characterized by a higher toxicity; therefore, the values of regional averages can be explained by the presence of small areas where pesticide use is concentrated. In these areas health risk is consequently very high for the local population. This fact becomes clearer after examining the pesticide use per hectare (Table 5). It cannot be excluded that some northern regions also could show a similar situation. Nevertheless, in central and southern regions this fact is of particular importance, because it confirms the simultaneous presence of two kinds of agriculture: a poor agriculture, characterized by low capital input per hectare and consequently less environmental impact, and a rich one, highly intensive, but more dangerous. PESTICIDES IN AGRICULTURAL SOIL
Determining the chemical input to the soil is only a part of the analysis of the impact of pesticide~. One should evaluate the consequences of pes*.icide use during the whole cycle, from production to disposal. Important
TABLE 5 Utilized agricultural surface (UAS) and pesticide use per hectare in selected areas of Central and South Italy per toxicity class (1988; 103 ha; kg ha -I) (see Ref. 3) Class Area
UAS
UAS
I/UAS
II/UAS
III/UAS IV/UAS
(%) District: Within region:
Latina Lazio
! 24 928
13.36 100.00
9.06 1.69
6.06 1.09
15.01 5.48
5.61 6.14
District: Within region:
Napoli Campania
58 837
6.92 100.00
9.85 1.96
7.27 1.08
60.01 10.17
16.82 6.09
District: Within region:
Ragusa Sicilia
%01 1!.84 100.00 .1.47
7.96 0.63
8.77 3.53
5.83 4.28
136 1940
For the description of the toxicity classes: see Table 3,
132
A. DONATI El" AL.
points of the cycle are those where interactions between pesticide and environment take place, with particular attention to man. We point out these interactions: (a) (b) (c) (d)
environmental impact of pesticide producing industry; health risk for agricultural operator; pesticide influence on the quality of potable water; containers and toxic residue disposal.
In relation to point (a) the history of chemical industry shows a great number of small and large incidents. We all remember the Bhopal incident in India. A large number of incidents have happened in Italy too. For example, the case of ICMESA plant at Seveso and the case of Farmoplant at Massa Carrara; this last factory was closed in 1987 together with AnicEniChem plant at Montignoso, after a popular referendum [6]. ICMESA produced trichlorophenol, an intermediate substance in the production of trichlorofenoxyacetic acid, a herbicide: on 10/7/1976 a chemical reactor explosion caused the output of a very large amount of dioxin. Anic-EniChem produced pesticides: on 12/3/1984 a toxic cloud containing dioxins was diffused into the atmosphere, by a fault in the production process of FS 1 herbicide (used as herbicide by state railways). Farmoplant produced pesticides too: among them, insecticides such as the highly toxic Rogor (dimethoate). On 16/12/1987 Farmoplant was again allowed to work by the Regional Administratiw~ Court: on 17/7/1988 the explosion and combustion of a reservoir containing 20 tons of Rogor polluted a large area of the Massa district and more than 15 km of coast and sea. After this last incident, the factory was finally closed by the Minister for the. Environment. Chemical plants producing pesticides or their intermediate products are diffused all around the national territory, exposing large, densely populated areas to risk [7]. Industrial secrecy, threats of unemp!oyment and the lack of publicly spread information permit pesticides to begin their environmental adventure before their input into the agricultural soil. There is no doubt that laws on pesticides should also take into account this industrial production step. With regard to point (b), usually a lot of advice is given to farmers in order to promote caution in preparing and managing pesticides. This advice is very often neglected. In case of poisoning there are twelve medical centres specialized in pesticide intoxication; most of them (eight) are localized in northern regions of Italy. One positive step in improving farmers' awareness of these risks was the Health Ministry Circular No. 37 dated 29/12/1988 [8], where a training course is prescribed to get the licence for buying and selling pesticides of the first and second class of toxicity. Until 24/5/1988, only 15%
133
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTUaE
TABLE 6 Atrazine pollution of water-bearing strata in Lombardia (1986; 10-6 g dm -3) (see Ref. 11) Source
Checked wells (N)
< O.1 (At)
< O.1 (%)
O.1-1 (N)
O.1-1 (%)
>1 (N)
> 1 (%)
Public wells Private wells
2005 956
! 695 359
84.5 37.5
281 536
14.0 56.1
29 61
1.4 6.4
of pesticides were included in the first and second, class of toxicity: consequently, only a small number of farmers needed this licence. A new classification of pesticides was adopted in the law No. 223 of 24/5/1988 [9] following the EEC Directives Nos. 78/631, 81/187 and 84/291. According to the new regulations, ~knost.80% of the pesticides have been included in the two first toxicity classes [10,11]: thus a greater number of farmers will need the prescribed licence. A period of 2 years was foreseen by Health Ministry for the organization of these courses in all Regions, so it is still too soon for a statistical evaluation of the attendance. The mass media have paid much attention to water quality in recent years (point c). Concentrations of herbicides (atrazine, molinate and bentazon) largely exceeding EEC limits [12] have been found in the water-bearing strata of the Po Valley. In 1986, extremely high concentrations of atrazine were found in wells of potable water in some parts of Lombardia [13]. Research data (Table 6) show that pollution was much higher in private than in public wells. The polluted water was declared 'drinkable' by a Health Ministry ordinance which raised allowable limits [14]. When levels returned within the originally accepted values, the EEC limits were reinstated. Atrazine was finally banned by a Government ordinance of 24/3/1990. Some other EEC directives have been introduced by the 18/7/90 Ordinance [15], listing the maximum limits for toxic residues and safety ranges for pesticides in foods, updating and integrating the previous one of 1985. It is clear that the problem is not yet resolved: the partial or complete elimination of certain polluting compounds can be easily overruled, as already happens, by the introduction of new compounds, of which the toxicity for man is not yet known. If an appropriate prevention policy is not adopted, the problem is likely to be postponed and will emerge again unchanged or worsened, after some years~ Finally, with regard to final disposal of pesticide containers (point d), current laws provide that they have to be disposed in authorized landfills for toxic residues or should be thermo-degraded in appropriate plants. There are only eight authorized and controlled landfills in Italy, all situated in northern
134
A. DONATIETAL.
regions. There are only two thermo-degradation plants, which belong to private companies: therefore they are hardly accessible for small users. In consequence of these factors, the situation does not seem favourable. Moreover, the question of the final disposal ~,i""pesticide containers in areas lacking such centres remains to be answered. CONCLUSIONS
Quantitative data analysis is not sufficient to understand the complex problem of pesticide use in agricultural activity. New dynamic and systemic models for data sampling and analyzing are urgently required, in order to clarify one of the more obscure aspects of modem industrialized agriculture. It is necessary to elaborate regulations by including the overall cycle of production and use of pesticides: an efficient action cannot be based on merely sectoral analysis. Noteworthy results have been obtained by some Italian Regions in rationalizing pesticide use (amounts and supply intervals), in order to reduce the overall quantity utilized in conventional agriculture. Such policy should be extended to the whole national territory. Nevertheless, a good number of pilot experiences suggest that better results could be obtained by a policy of integrated pest management and biological agriculture [16]. A national incentive policy for biological agriculture does not exist as yet. Regional attempts had no real influence on agricultural production: the situation appears to be static. An urgent and radical action is needed, in order to support the gradual development of agricultural practices towards techniques with lower environmental impact. REFERENCES 1 R.A. Vollenweider, Energy, pollution and the disruption of environment equilibria, Proceedings of the Iaternational Meeting, Giornate internazionali di biologia: le vie della soprawivenza, Napoli (Italy), March 5-7, 1982, pp. 9-46. 2 Ambiente Italia, Annual Report, Lcga per l'Ambiente editor, ISEDI Publishing House, Torino 1989, pp. 170-180. 3 ISTAT, lstituto Nazionale di Statistica, Annual Report No. 36, Statistiche dell'agricoltura, zootecnia e mezzi di produzione, 1990. 4 J. Fabbricatore Amici, Sostanze attive autorizzate in agricoltura (Chemical Ingredients Authorized for Agricultural Use), Istituto Sperimentale per la Patologia Vegetale, Roma, 1988. 5 FAO, Production, Yearbook Number 43, FAO, Rome, 1989. 6 Eureta Newsletter, Number 1, January, 1988, p. 48. 7 C. Ravaioli and E. Tiezzi, Bugle, Silenzi e Grida (Lies, Silence and Screams), Garzanti Publishing House, Milan, 1989, 450 pp. 8 Health Ministry Circular, Number 37. Gaz. Off., 4 (January 5th) 1989.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PESTICIDE USE IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURE
135
9 Gazzetta Ufficiale della Republica Italiana (Suppl.), Number 146, June 23rd, 1988. 10 Government Decree, Regarding the Norms for the Classification, Packing and Labelling of Pesticides (Number 258), August 2nd. 1990. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 213 (1990) August 12th. 11 Circular, No. 20, September 3rd, 1990, l~zamining the Practical Aspects of Pesticides Registration Legislation. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 2i6 (1990) September 15th. 12 EEC, Directives Relating to the Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption. L229 (1980) August 20th. 13 AA.VV.,Agricultura Ambiente, Vol. 1, Pitagora Publishing House, Bologna, 1988, pp. 143-216. 14 Health Ministry Ordinance, Number 135, April 3rd 1987; Number 217, May 30th 1987. I.~ Health Ministry Ordinance, July 18th 1990. Gaz. Off. (Suppl.), 202 (1990) August 30th. 16 ENEA and RENAGRI, Agricoltura e Innovazione. Doss. Agric. Biol., 12 (1990) 41-107.