Pesticide/soil interactions - new publication available
Full details, such as the research methods and mathematical models developed, of the COST Action 66 'Fate of pesticides in the soil and the environment,' managed by the European Commission's Research Directorate-General (1993 to 1998) are available in a new workbook, 'Pesticide/soil interactions: some current research methods'. Authors Juan Cornejo and Paul Jamet aim to provide both a final report for the Action and a workbook to help chemists, physico-chemists, biochemists, biologists and geologists as well as professionals and Ph.D. students in their studies of the environmental fate of pesticides. However, the book does not aim to provide an exhaustive catalogue of laboratory tests, outdoor experiments or mathematical models and it does not give definitive answers to evaluate the risks of soil and water pollution. Instead, say the authors, it aims to gather technical and objective descriptions of current research methods and mathematical models developed and (or) used in Europe. Each method is described and evaluated, providing details of both advantages and disadvantages. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the behaviour of pesticides in soil and the environment and each different section begins with an introductory chapter to provide the reader with comparison and guidance in the proposed methods. 'It is hoped that these research methods and mathematical models will be widely used to learn more about the fate of pesticides and to plan ahead for soil and water pollution as well as for preparing future European guidelines for pesticides registration,' write the authors.