During the growing season of 2021, 201 soil samples from conventionally and organically managed fields from 10 European countries and 8 cropping systems were taken, and 192 residues of synthetic pesticides were analyzed. Pesticide residues were found in 97% of the samples, and 88% of the samples contained mixtures of at least 2 substances. A maximum of 21 substances were found in conventionally managed fields, and a maximum of 12 were found in organically managed fields. The number and concentration of pesticide residues varied significantly between conventional and organic fields in 70 and 50% of the case study sites, respectively. Application records were available for a selected number of fields (n = 82), and these records were compared to the detected substances. Residues from 52% of the applied pesticides were detected in the soils. Only 21% of the pesticide residues detected in the soil samples were applied during the 2021 growing season. From the application data, predicted environmental concentrations of residues in soil were calculated and compared to the measured concentrations. These estimates turned out not to be accurate. The results of this study show that most European agricultural soils contain mixtures of pesticide residues and that current calculation methods may not reliably estimate their presence.

Agronomy Department Biotechnical Faculty University of Ljubljana Jamnikarjeva 101 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

CESAM and Department of Biology University of Aveiro 3810 193 Aveiro Portugal

CESAM and Department of Environment and Planning University of Aveiro 3810 193 Aveiro Portugal

Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center Ramazzini Institute Via Saliceto 3 40010 Bologna Bentivoglio Italy

Department of Agriculture and Nutrition Institute of Agriculture and Tourism K Huguesa 8 52440 Poreč Croatia

Department of Agroecology Aarhus University Blichers Allé 20 8830 Tjele Denmark

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena Paseo Alfonso XIII 48 30203 Cartagena Spain

Institute of Geography University of Bern Hallerstrasse 12 3012 Bern Switzerland

Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences Radboud University Heyendaalseweg 135 6525 AJ Nijmegen The Netherlands

RECETOX Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kamenice 753 5 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Soil Physics and Land Management Group Wageningen University and Research Droevendaalsesteeg 3 6708 PB Wageningen The Netherlands

Univ Bordeaux INSERM BPH U1219 146 Rue Léo Saignat 33076 Bordeaux France

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