Jochen P Zubrod, Mirco Bundschuh, Gertie Arts, Carsten A Brühl, Gwenaël Imfeld, Anja Knäbel, Sylvain Payraudeau, Jes J Rasmussen, Jason Rohr, Andreas Scharmüller, Kelly Smalling, Sebastian Stehle, Ralf Schulz, Ralf B Schäfer
Author Information
Jochen P Zubrod: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany. ORCID
Mirco Bundschuh: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Gertie Arts: Wageningen Environmental Research , Wageningen University and Research , Wageningen , The Netherlands.
Carsten A Brühl: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Gwenaël Imfeld: Laboratoire d'Hydrologie et de Géochimie de Strasbourg (LHyGeS) , Université de Strasbourg/ENGEES, CNRS , 1 rue Blessig , 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Anja Knäbel: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Sylvain Payraudeau: Laboratoire d'Hydrologie et de Géochimie de Strasbourg (LHyGeS) , Université de Strasbourg/ENGEES, CNRS , 1 rue Blessig , 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France. ORCID
Jes J Rasmussen: Aarhus University , Dept. of Bioscience , Vejlsoevej 25 , 8600 Silkeborg , Denmark.
Jason Rohr: University of South Florida , Department of Integrative Biology , Tampa , Florida , United States.
Andreas Scharmüller: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Kelly Smalling: U.S. Geological Survey , New Jersey Water Science Center , Lawrenceville , New Jersey , United States. ORCID
Sebastian Stehle: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Ralf Schulz: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany.
Ralf B Schäfer: Institute for Environmental Sciences , University of Koblenz-Landau , Fortstraße 7 , D-76829 Landau , Germany. ORCID
Fungicides are indispensable to global food security and their use is forecasted to intensify. Fungicides can reach aquatic ecosystems and occur in surface water bodies in agricultural catchments throughout the entire growing season due to their frequent, prophylactic application. However, in comparison to herbicides and insecticides, the exposure to and effects of fungicides have received less attention. We provide an overview of the risk of fungicides to aquatic ecosystems covering fungicide exposure (i.e., environmental fate, exposure modeling, and mitigation measures) as well as direct and indirect effects of fungicides on microorganisms, macrophytes, invertebrates, and vertebrates. We show that fungicides occur widely in aquatic systems, that the accuracy of predicted environmental concentrations is debatable, and that fungicide exposure can be effectively mitigated. We additionally demonstrate that fungicides can be highly toxic to a broad range of organisms and can pose a risk to aquatic biota. Finally, we outline central research gaps that currently challenge our ability to predict fungicide exposure and effects, promising research avenues, and shortcomings of the current environmental risk assessment for fungicides.
References
J Chromatogr A. 2010 Apr 2;1217(14):2088-103
[PMID: 20202641]
