Aqueous photochemistry of neonicotinoids unveils a major source of atmospheric reactive nitrogen impacting global climate

Neonicotinoid insecticides (NNs), widely deployed in agriculture, are now recognized as pervasive environmental contaminants. This study reveals that the photochemical degradation of nitenpyram (NPM), a prominent NN, in the aqueous phase generates substantial fluxes of gaseous reactive nitrogen species, including nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2). Reaction pathways, elucidated through aqueous and gas-phase product analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, demonstrate that HONO, NO2, and NO arise directly from the excited triplet state of NPM. Global modeling, parameterized by laboratory-derived kinetics, estimates annual emissions of 71.2 Gg N yr−1 (NOx) and 40.7 Gg N yr−1 (HONO) from NPM photodegradation. These emissions elevate boundary-layer concentrations of HONO, ozone (O3), and OH by 0.54%, 0.11%, and 0.20%, respectively, globally. Our findings uncover a significant, yet overlooked, source of reactive nitrogen that perturbs global nitrogen cycling, amplifies atmospheric oxidative capacity, and influences climate dynamics.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Published
2025-12-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01286-4
Primary Topic
Insect and Pesticide Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Aqueous photochemistry of neonicotinoids unveils a major source of atmospheric reactive nitrogen impacting global climate

Can Ye, Zhijiong Huang, Junyu Zheng, Yongming Luo et al.
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Insect and Pesticide Research
article

Aqueous photochemistry of neonicotinoids unveils a major source of atmospheric reactive nitrogen impacting global climate

Can Ye, Zhijiong Huang, Junyu Zheng, Yongming Luo, Yanan Hu, Jiangping Liu, Dedong He, Sasho Gligorovski, Xiaoxia Lü, Shuai Li, Jingwei Zhang, Xinming Wang, Zhu Ran
article en

Abstract

Neonicotinoid insecticides (NNs), widely deployed in agriculture, are now recognized as pervasive environmental contaminants. This study reveals that the photochemical degradation of nitenpyram (NPM), a prominent NN, in the aqueous phase generates substantial fluxes of gaseous reactive nitrogen species, including nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2). Reaction pathways, elucidated through aqueous and gas-phase product analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, demonstrate that HONO, NO2, and NO arise directly from the excited triplet state of NPM. Global modeling, parameterized by laboratory-derived kinetics, estimates annual emissions of 71.2 Gg N yr−1 (NOx) and 40.7 Gg N yr−1 (HONO) from NPM photodegradation. These emissions elevate boundary-layer concentrations of HONO, ozone (O3), and OH by 0.54%, 0.11%, and 0.20%, respectively, globally. Our findings uncover a significant, yet overlooked, source of reactive nitrogen that perturbs global nitrogen cycling, amplifies atmospheric oxidative capacity, and influences climate dynamics.

npj Climate and Atmospheric ScienceVol. 9(1)
Kunming University of Science and Technology (CN), Jinan University (CN), Yunnan University (CN), Peking University (CN), Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (CN), Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN), Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute (CN), Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (CN), Innovation Team (China) (HK)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science Fund for Creative Research Groups, Applied Basic Research Foundation of Yunnan Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 64%
Insect and Pesticide Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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