ISRIC - World Soil Information, legally known as International Soil Reference and Information Centre, is an independent, science-based foundation. The institute was founded in 1966 following a recommendation of the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS, now International Union of Soil Sciences| (IUSS)) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It has a mission to serve the international community with information about the world’s soil resources to help address major global issues. Together with partners, ISRIC produces, gathers, compiles and serves quality-assessed soil information at global, national and regional levels. Work is organized according to 4 work streams: Setting Standards and References, Soil Information Provisioning, Capacity Building and Advocacy, and Derived products. Reference collection includes country documentation (reports, maps and slides), soil specimens (monoliths, samples, thin sections, hand specimens); physical examples of the soil monolith collection are on permanent display in the World Soil Museum. ISRIC is a regular member of the ISC World Data System; in that capacity has been known as the WDC-Soils since 1989..
Pollution is recognized as a major threat to soil health; however, significant gaps persist regarding the distribution and risks of chemicals in developing regions. This study investigated the occurrence of pesticide residues in African agricultural soils. Between 2022 and 2024, we collected 272 topsoil samples from 13 countries representing diverse farming systems and analyzed them for 153 pesticide residues, including active ingredients and their metabolites. Pesticides were detected in 216 samples, with 63 different residues identified, several of which were unregistered in the countries where they were found and some banned in the European Union. The most frequently detected compounds were dinoterb, DDE-p,p', chlorpyrifos, metolachlor, atrazine-hydroxy-2, AMPA, and imidacloprid, all of which are substances of environmental, ecotoxicological, or toxicological concern. Individual pesticide concentrations ranged from <0.001 to 4.896 mg kg-1, and the total pesticide load reached 6.998 mg kg-1. At least 25% of the sampling locations are expected to present a high ecological risk (RQ ≥ 1), although data gaps for some substances limit assessment accuracy. Eleven pesticides exceeded the risk thresholds in at least one sample, with chlorpyrifos driving the most exceedances. A monitoring- and hazard-based prioritization approach highlighted additional high-concern compounds, notably dinoterb and glyphosate/AMPA. Overall, the findings reveal the significant environmental impacts of agricultural intensification and highlight regulatory challenges related to pesticide use across Africa.
