Occurrence of pesticides in the atmosphere in France

The transfer of pesticides to the atmosphere leads to a contamination of all atmospheric phases: gaseous, aerosol particles, fog droplets or rainwater. This paper makes a review of observations of pesticides in the atmosphere in France, which started at the end of the 80s. Measured concentrations in rainwater were very high, with maximum values reaching 60 mug.l(-1). Concentrations in fog were much higher than in rainwater. Regarding the gaseous and particulate phases, the measured concentrations range from not detected to 185 ng.m(-3). Very high values (2.6 mug.m(-3)) have been measured locally. This contamination is observed throughout the year, sometimes displaying a seasonal pattern and spatial variability. Compounds which have been banned are still present in the atmosphere. It is also striking that pesticides which could be expected to be not very volatile based on their physico-chemical characteristics are found in the atmosphere.