Environmental photochemistry on plants: recent advances and new opportunities for interdisciplinary research

Plants play a central role in the photochemistry of chemicals in the environment. They represent a major atmospheric source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) but also an important environmental surface for the deposition and photochemical reactions of pesticides, gaseous and particulate pollutants. In this review, we point out the role of plant leaves in these processes, as a support affecting the reactions physically and chemically and as a partner through the release of natural constituents (water, secondary metabolites). We discuss the influence of the chosen support (leaves, needle surfaces or fruit cuticles, extracted cuticular waxes and model surfaces) and other factors (additives, pesticides mixture, and secondary metabolites) on the photochemical degradation kinetics and mechanisms. We also show how plants can be a source of photochemically reactive species which can act as photosensitizers promoting the photodegradation of pesticides or the formation and aging of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) and secondary organic materials (SOM). Understanding the fate of chemicals on plants is a research area located at the interface between photochemistry, analytical chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, microbiology and vegetal physiology. Pluridisciplinary approaches are needed to deeply understand these complex phenomena in a comprehensive way. To overcome this challenge, we summarize future research directions which have been clearly overlooked until now. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

Plants play a crucial role in the photochemistry of chemicals in the environment, acting as a major source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and facilitating the degradation and reaction of pesticides and pollutants. Understanding the fate of chemicals on plants requires interdisciplinary research.