Framework for Function-Based Pesticide Substitution
Issued Date
2026-02-24
Resource Type
ISSN
0013936X
eISSN
15205851
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105030935613
Pubmed ID
41677807
Journal Title
Environmental Science and Technology
Volume
60
Issue
7
Start Page
5467
End Page
5478
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Environmental Science and Technology Vol.60 No.7 (2026) , 5467-5478
Suggested Citation
Mankong P., Punyawattoe P., Brader G., Prapaspongsa T., Wannaz C., Fantke P. Framework for Function-Based Pesticide Substitution. Environmental Science and Technology Vol.60 No.7 (2026) , 5467-5478. 5478. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c14014 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/115480
Title
Framework for Function-Based Pesticide Substitution
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Agricultural pesticides can harm humans and the environment, with many current-use pesticides being highly hazardous. Substituting hazardous pesticides with less impactful alternatives comes with challenges related to systematically matching crops, pests, and pesticides, considering regulations, equal efficacy, and combining pesticides to collectively control a wider set of pests across critical crop stages. We propose a quantitative framework to define and assess functionally equivalent scenarios for substituting hazardous pesticides in real-life agricultural applications to reduce human and ecosystem health impacts. Testing our framework on pesticide use in Thailand highlights that particularly hazardous pesticides are applied to certain crops (e.g., tomato, Brassica vegetables) and pests (e.g., tomato leaf miner flies, different thrips species). We found that the number of scenarios combining different pesticides is not an indicator of the variability in scenario impacts: some crop–pest class (e.g., insects) pairs with >10,000 possible scenarios of pesticide combinations vary less in impact performance than some pairs with fewer scenarios. For each crop–pest class pair, we recommend the 10% best-in-class impact performance scenarios for substituting more hazardous scenarios. Our framework can inform policymakers to identify hazardous pesticides for phase out, support ambitions of UNEP’s Global Framework on Chemicals, and aid farmers to reduce their pesticide-related chemical footprint.