The Occurrence of Glyphosate and its Degradation Products in the Urban Stormwater: A Short Review

Due to urbanization and industrialization, water pollution is now one of the major environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. Considering the increasing of agricultural and non-agricultural settings in the last decades, the investigation of the relationship between such pesticides and urban stormwater is critical to understand how urban, residential, and industrialized areas can affect environmental safety. Recently, scientific interest has grown in stormwater chemical characterization with the aim to define its impacts in the environment and possibly to make it potable water. In this context, glyphosate, glufosinate, and their degradation products have been identified as the key knowledge gap for the chemical characterization of stormwater. Research investments are needed for a better understanding of the highly polar pesticides to estimate their load, source, and dispersion of urban runoff due to residential use of herbicides. Furthermore, a more comprehensive study of wet and dry deposition and spray drift should be considered for a correct evaluation of source apportionment.