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Solar photocatalysis as strategy for on-site reclamation of agro-wastewater polluted with pesticide residues on farms using a modular facility

  • Advanced Oxidation/Reduction Technologies: An Perspective from Iberoamerican Countries
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Abstract

One of the consequences of phytosanitary treatments applied to crops is the generation of a great volume of agro-wastewater having pesticide residues. These pollutants can be considered a serious threat to the environment and human health due to their capacity to affect distant areas remaining for a long time after their application. We have assessed the degradation of five pesticides in agro-waste water produced in two farms by the cleaning pesticide containers and phytosanitary treatment equipment used in the farms. For this purpose, a pilot facility was installed in both farms and advanced oxidation treatments were conducted using natural sunlight by means of Na2S2O8 and heterogeneous photocatalysis (TiO2/Na2S2O8). The remaining percentages obtained at the end of the experiments ranged from 5 to 90.1% for chlorantraniliprole, 5 to 82.3% for difenoconazole, 0.02 to 19.1% for metalaxyl, 1.4 to 74.4% for myclobutanil, and 0.3 to 61% for triadimenol. We observed a correlation between the higher remaining percentages and the total initial concentration of pollutant because of other commercial formulations applied in the farms. The results showed that this equipment could be used to eliminate or reduce the presence of pesticide residues in agro-waste water using an innovative facility installed in the farms and a renewable and economical source of energy (sunlight).

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to H. Jiménez, I. Garrido, J. Cava, and M. V. Molina for the technical assistance.

Funding

The authors received financial support received from the European Commission through the LIFE+ Program (LIFE13 AQUEMFREE ENV/ES/000488).

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Authors and 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

    Isabel Garrido, José Fenoll, Pilar Flores & Pilar Hellín

  2. Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain

    Gabriel Pérez-Lucas & Simón Navarro

Authors
  1. Isabel Garrido
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  2. José Fenoll
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  3. Pilar Flores
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  4. Pilar Hellín
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  5. Gabriel Pérez-Lucas
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  6. Simón Navarro
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All named authors have read and approved this version of the manuscript and there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us.

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Correspondence to Isabel Garrido.

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Responsible editor: Sami Rtimi

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Garrido, I., Fenoll, J., Flores, P. et al. Solar photocatalysis as strategy for on-site reclamation of agro-wastewater polluted with pesticide residues on farms using a modular facility. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 23647–23656 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10631-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10631-4

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