Work

Environmental challenges of herbicide safeners and the sustainability solutions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Herbicide safeners are crucial for enhancing crop selectivity and maintaining weed control efficacy. However, their environmental behavior and ecological risks—such as potential toxicity to non-target organisms, soil and water contamination, and even indirect influence on unintended weed protection—are a growing cause for concern. This paper summarizes the evaluation of safeners' environmental risks, explores the role in sustainable weed management, and underscores the need for a comprehensive assessment of safeners. Furthermore, it highlights promising eco-friendly production strategies for novel safener development, such as the novel safeners sourced from natural products and those utilizing material-based encapsulation technologies, to minimize ecological impact. The implementation of safener management strategies is crucial for ensuring crop safe growth and advancing agricultural sustainability. • Most safeners pose concerns due to high environmental persistence and toxicity to non-target organisms. • Natural plant regulators can function as safeners while restoring soil health and function. • Nano-controlled release technology significantly reduces environmental toxicity and application frequency of safeners. • Establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for safeners is inevitable.

Source: Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology

DOI: 10.1016/j.enceco.2025.11.007

Authors: Yaning Zhao, Jihong Zhang, Bocheng Yuan, Yulong Liu, Fei Ye, Ying Fu

Institution: Northeast Agricultural University

Language: English

Topic: Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies

Subfield: Pollution

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $700