**4. Scope and perspectives**

The agricultural intensification and expansion are global processes associated with growing worldwide demands (food, feed, fiber and fuel), and these are highly dependent on external additions of nutrients and crop protection compounds [27, 28]. In Uruguay, these processes began from 2000, mainly in the west littoral zone with the inclusion of soybean in agricultural sequences under no-tillage. Currently, more than 2 million hectares are destined to agriculture and approximately 50% correspond to soybean crops. In addition, the imported volumes of agrochemicals significatively increase, particularly herbicides (10,200,404 kg AI in 2017).

Considering the herbicides, insecticides and fungicides being more used, the doses/application numbers recommended and the agricultural area (crops and grasslands), we have estimated that in 2017, 15 million L of herbicides, 8 million L of insecticides and 750,000 L of fungicides were added. Several of them, as stated by the European and US regulatory agencies, have a status "Approved with restricted use" (7) or "Not approved" (5). In addition, PAN Pesticide Database (PANNA) and Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB) classified as "Suspected" interferes with the endocrine system functioning and four of these are: acephate, acetochlor, chlorpyrifos ethyl and metolachlor. On the other hand, although the aforementioned regulatory agencies confers tebuconazole the "Approved" status, it is one of the fungicides more used (2.136.750 L in 2017) and was reported as endocrine disruptor in PANNA and PPDB database, and by several authors [9–11, 25, 29, 30]. These last five compounds are used in the soybean cropping, and the bigger surfaces occupied by this crop are located around the two most important river basins in the country (Uruguay and Negro river).

On the other hand, it is important to highlight that the available information at National level on residues of crop protection compounds is basically for export products and some foods for internal market. While as data about environmental concentration (soil, water or biota) are scarce, environmental surveillance programs are not carried out.

According to our review about the crop protection compounds used in the agricultural systems in Uruguay, this activity is a potential source of endocrine disruptors. One of the first actions tending to reduce the environmental risk associated with the use of these compounds is to replace acephate, acetochlor, and metolachlor by other active ingredients. In the same way and in function of the scientific evidences, it is necessary to establish monitoring programs for determining environmental levels of chlorpyrifos and tebuconazole, as well as to assess the potential human health and wildlife risks. Finally, we consider that the west littoral is the zone with the highest risk associated with exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (hot spot area), principally the Rio Negro and Soriano Department.
