Ambient air concentrations of plant protection products: Data collection for the combined air concentration database and associated risk assessment.

CropLife Europe collected literature values from monitoring studies measuring air concentrations of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) that may be inhaled by humans located in rural areas but not immediately adjacent to PPP applications. The resulting "Combined Air Concentration Database" (CACD) was used to determine whether air concentrations of PPPs reported by the French "Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety" (ANSES) are consistent with those measured by others to increase confidence in values of exposure to humans. The results were put into risk assessment context. Results show that 25-90% of samples do not contain measurable PPP concentrations. Measured respirable fractions were below EU default air concentrations used for risk assessment for resident exposure by the European Food Safety Authority. All measured exposures in the CACD were also below established toxicological endpoints, even when considering the highest maximum average reported concentrations and very conservative inhalation rates. The highest recorded air concentration was for prosulfocarb (0.696 µg/m³ measured over 48 h) which is below the EFSA default limit of 1 µg/m³ for low volatility substances. In conclusion, based on the CACD, measured air concentrations of PPPs are significantly lower than EFSA default limits and relevant toxicological reference values.

A comparison between field measurements of vapour concentrations of plant protection products and predictions by the BROWSE model.

A database of field measurements of air concentrations of pesticide active ingredients has previously been compiled by CropLife Europe with an aim to revise the default air concentration values and assumptions applied in assessing vapour exposure in the risk assessment of bystanders and residents. The BROWSE model, released in 2014, which is a regulatory risk assessment model that includes the exposure of residents and bystanders has a component relating to post-application vapour inhalation. Predictions of concentration deduced from exposures obtained using the BROWSE model were compared with field measurements of 24-h and 7-day average concentrations. The methodology for obtaining concentration estimates from the BROWSE model is described, and the criteria for including field studies in the comparison are given. The field data were adjusted to account for differences between the field experiment and the BROWSE scenario using factors derived from a separate plume dispersion model. This showed that BROWSE provides a satisfactory level of conservatism in determining potential exposures of residents and bystanders to vapour and could be a reliable alternative to replace the current EFSA approach for predicting vapour inhalation exposures for pesticides where no compound-specific data are available.

Assessment of photosystem II thermoluminescence as a tool to investigate the effects of dehydration and rehydration on the cyclic/chlororespiratory electron pathways in wheat and barley leaves.

Thermoluminescence emission from wheat leaves was recorded under various controlled drought stress conditions: (i) fast dehydration (few hours) of excised leaves in the dark (ii) slow dehydration (several days) obtained by withholding watering of plants under a day/night cycle (iii) overnight rehydration of the slowly dehydrated plants at a stage of severe dessication. In fast dehydrated leaves, the AG band intensity was unchanged but its position was shifted to lower temperatures, indicating an activation of cyclic and chlororespiratory pathways in darkness, without any increase of their overall electron transfer capacity. By contrast, after a slow dehydration the AG intensity was strongly increased whereas its position was almost unchanged, indicating respectively that the capacity of cyclic pathways was enhanced but that they remained inactivated in darkness. Under more severe dehydration, the AG band almost disappeared. Rewatering caused its rapid bounce significantly above the control level. No significant differences in AG emission could be found between the two drought-sensitive and drought-tolerant wheat cultivars. The afterglow thermoluminescence emission in leaves provides an additional tool to follow the increased capacity and activation of cyclic electron flow around PSI in leaves during mild, severe dehydration and after rehydration.

Presymptomatic detection of powdery mildew infection in winter wheat cultivars by laser-induced fluorescence.

The sensor-based monitoring of diseases under controlled conditions establishes an objective tool that allows a better understanding of the pathogen-plant interactions in different situations. The purpose of our work was to implement the presymptomatic detection of powdery mildew on wheat leaves shortly after fungus inoculation by spectral and time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. In the general scope of plant phenotyping, we hypothesized that it is possible to discriminate between wheat genotypes that are either resistant or susceptible to powdery mildew. According to our results, the presymptomatic detection of powdery mildew on wheat leaves was accomplished, irrespective of genotype, as early as one day after inoculation using the fluorescence amplitude ratio F451:F522. Similarly, the ratios F451:F522, F522:F687, and F522:F736 of the half-bandwidth are also appropriate parameters. Furthermore, in the spectral range between 410 nm and 620 nm, the mean lifetime was significantly longer in inoculated leaves than it was in control leaves. Finally, the short-term (10-12 hour) increase of the fluorescence mean lifetime at 530 nm and 560 nm following the inoculation suggests that the speed of the plant reaction might be associated to its resistance to the pathogen. Based on this information, we conclude that determinations of ultraviolet, laser-induced fluorescence intensity and lifetime are suitable approaches to presymptomatically detect powdery mildew on wheat leaves one day after inoculation.

Use of blue-green and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements for differentiation between nitrogen deficiency and pathogen infection in winter wheat.

In recent years, several sensor-based approaches have been established to early detect single plant stresses, but the challenge of discriminating between simultaneously occurring stressors still remains. Earlier studies on wheat plants strongly affected by pathogens and nitrogen deficiency indicated that chlorophyll fluorescence might be suited to distinguish between the two stressors. Nevertheless, there is lack of information on the pre-symptomatic detection of synchronized occurrence of slight N-deficiency and the early stages of pathogen infection. The usefulness of the blue, green, and yellow fluorescence signals in this context has not yet been explored. We hypothesized that differentiation between wheat plants' physiological reaction due to N-deficiency and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) as well as N-deficiency and powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici) might be accomplished by means of UV laser-induced fluorescence spectral measurements between 370 and 620nm in addition to chlorophyll fluorescence (640-800nm). Plants were provided with either a normal or a modified Hoagland nutrient solution in order to induce a slight N deficit. Pathogen inoculation was carried out on the second fully developed leaf. Four experimental groups were evaluated: (a) N-full-supply [N+]; (b) N-deficiency [N-]; (c) N-full-supply+pathogen [N+/LR] or [N+/PM]; (d) N-deficiency+pathogen [N-/LR] or [N-/PM]. The results revealed that, in addition to the amplitude ratio of R/FR fluorescence, B/G fluorescence also facilitated reliable and robust discrimination among the four experimental groups. The discrimination among the experimental groups was accomplished as early as one and two days after inoculation for powdery mildew and leaf rust infection, respectively. During the 3days evaluation period, the differences among the treatment groups became more evident. Moreover, several other amplitude ratios and half-bandwidth ratios proved to be suited to early detect fungal infection, irrespective of the nitrogen status of the plant.