Pesticide-related risks embodied in global soybean trade

Wang, Jiayu; Geng, Xinyi; Wang, Peng; Yang, Jingcheng; Yang, Yi; Chan, Faith Ka Shun; Chan, Hing Kai; Johnson, Matthew F.; Liu, Xiojie; Zhu, Yong-Guan; Chen, Wei-Qiang

Abstract

Pesticides may help safeguard food security but endanger the local ecosystem and farmer health. The globalization of the food trade is masking such impacts by separating production from consumption, and its effects on pesticide use and their related risks remain unclear. Here, we provide a map of the environmental and health risks associated with pesticide footprints along the soybean trade across 197 countries. We find that approximately 64% of soybeans were traded globally, embodying ∼55% of environmental-health risks linked to ∼108 kt of pesticide use. Notably, trade soybean pesticide footprints and their associated environmental-health risks are concentrated in a few hotspot nations, including the USA, Brazil, and Argentina. About 30 kt of future increase in soybean pesticide use and ∼6% of their related environmental-health risks can be offset by reducing 80% of soybean traded from high-pesticide-use-intensity nations to lower ones. Our results highlight the necessity of rethinking the role of agricultural trade in global pesticide management.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 21, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Mar 15, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 19, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 19, 2024
• Journal: Cell Reports Sustainability
• Electronic ISSN: 2949-7906
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 100055
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100055
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/32742184
• Publisher URL: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-sustainability/fulltext/S2949-7906(24)00067-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2949790624000673%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Pesticide-related risks embodied in global soybean trade; Journal Title: Cell Reports Sustainability; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100055; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s).