title: Prevalence of pesticides in postconsumer agrochemical polymeric packaging.
abstract: Pesticide remains contained in agrochemical packaging waste are a source of uncontrolled risk for human health; they are also a quality feedstock for the plastic recycling industry. Many governments have recently started to establish laws and regulations to develop systems for recovering and recycling the polymeric packages used for pesticides. There is also a demand in having a procedure to control the suitability of the pesticide packages to be reused. We have developed a two-step operation process to assess the pesticide residues in agricultural containers made of a variety of polymeric matrices. The procedure is based on an extraction with a solvent mixture followed by UPLC-MS/MS determination. Solvents for neutral pesticides were selected considering the Hildebrand solubility (δ) of solvents and polymers together with those estimated for the pesticides. The proposed technique is effective in recovering imbibed pesticides in polymeric matrices. Also, a simplified extraction procedure has been tested to become a routine method for these wastes. We have found that in many cases a significant amount of pesticides remain into the polymeric matrix, even after a standardized cleaning; the impact of releasing these hazardous compounds into the environment is to be of further consideration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain; Scientific Technical Services DATCEM, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: eras@quimica.udl.cat.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eras
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Botany and Gardening, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: costa@hbj.udl.cat.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Scientific Technical Services DATCEM, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: francesca.vilaro@udl.cat.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vilaró
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Botany and Gardening, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: pelacho@hbj.udl.cat.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pelacho
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: canela@quimica.udl.cat.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Canela-Garayoa
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, Botany and Gardening, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain; Scientific Technical Services DBMO, University of Lleida, Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. Electronic address: martin@hbj.udl.cat.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin-Closas
keywords: Circular economy; Environmental contamination; Recycling