Multidimensional toxicity profiling of organophosphorus pesticides in agricultural soils: Target and non-target responses.

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are essential agrochemicals for global food security but have complex toxic effects on agricultural soil systems. This study presents a multidimensional framework to assess the ecotoxicity of OPs in soil ecosystems, incorporating microbial toxicity, enzyme inhibition, animal responses, physicochemical changes, and crop damage. The system aims to evaluate the toxicity levels of agricultural soils exposed to OPs and create a risk classification and control list for OPs-related ecological risks. Using computational toxicology techniques, including entropy, CRITIC weighting, coefficient of variation, and natural breaks methods, a priority control list for 225 OPs was developed. Among these, 67 OPs pose unacceptable ecological risks, 45 have low risks, and 113 present potential risks. OPs with phosphorothioate (P=S) structures show more significant non-target effects (28.619 % higher) and lower target effects (13.275 % lower) compared to phosphoryl (P=O) structures. Mechanistic analysis indicates that van der Waals forces primarily drive the stronger effects of P=S OPs on target organisms (e.g., brown planthoppers). The sulfur atoms in P=S have a stronger electron-withdrawing ability than oxygen atoms in P=O, which explains the notable differences in toxicity to non-target organisms (e.g., plants, soil physicochemical properties, and earthworms) between OPs with P=S and P=O structures. This system offers a comprehensive approach to assess the ecological toxicity risks of OPs in agricultural soils, enabling the prioritization of chemicals that pose the most significant environmental threats. Additionally, it provides valuable insights for designing more effective management strategies and guiding future research on pesticide risk assessment, ecological sustainability, and pollution prevention.