Pesticide-drift

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Inappropriate pesticide application can lead to off-target contamination due to spray drift and "run-off" from plants, causing contamination of the bystanders, the soil, water courses and other environmental pollution.

With placement (localised) spraying of broad spectrum pesticides, wind drift must be minimised, and considerable efforts have been made recently to quantify and control spray drift from hydraulic nozzles. On the other hand, wind drift is also an efficient mechanism for moving droplets of an appropriate size range to their targets over a wide area with ultra-low volume (ULV) spraying. Himel (1974) made a distinction between exo-drift (the transfer of spray out of the target area) and endo-drift, where the active ingredient (AI) in droplets falls into the target area, but does not reach the biological target. Endo-drift is volumetrically more significant and may therefore cause greater ecological contamination (e.g. where chemical pesticides pollute ground water).

Although there has been much public concern and research into spray drift, several studies have concluded that point source pollution (allowing pesticides to enter water courses/groundwater following spillage of concentrate or after washing equipment) can cause the greatest harm to the environment.

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Himel, C.M. (1974) Analytical methodology in ULV. In: Pesticide application by ULV methods British Crop Protection Council Monograph No. 11, 112-119.
Matthews G.A. (2006) Pesticides: Health, Safety and the Environment Blackwell, Oxford