Assessing availability of European plant protection product data: an example evaluating basic area treated

PeerJ

article

Ana López-Ballesteros¹  Aoife Delaney²  James Quirke⁴  Jane C. Stout⁵  Matthew Saunders⁵  James C. Carolan⁶  Blánaid White⁷  Dara A. Stanley² 

[1] Department of Agricultural and Forest Systems and the Environment, Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon;School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin;National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Arts;Department of Agriculture;Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin;Department of Biology, Maynooth University;School of Chemical Sciences, DCU Water Institute, Dublin City University

关键词: Pesticides;    Exposure;    European policy;    Agrichemical;    Plant protection product;    Active ingredients;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13586

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Besides the benefits of plant protection products (PPPs) for agricultural production, there is an increasing acknowledgement of the associated potential environmental risks. Here, we examine the feasibility of summarizing the extent of PPP usage at the country level, using Ireland as a case study, as well as at the European level. We used the area over which PPPs are applied (basic area) as an example variable that is relevant to initially assess the geographic extent of environmental risk. In Irish agricultural systems, which are primarily grass-based, herbicides fluroxypyr and glyphosate are the most widely applied active substances (ASs) in terms of basic area, followed by the fungicides chlorothalonil and prothioconazole that are closely associated with arable crops. Although all EU countries are subject to Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009, which sets the obligation of PPP usage data reporting at the national level, we only found usable data that met our criteria for Estonia, Germany, Finland, and Spain (4 of 30 countries reviewed). Overall, the most widely applied fungicide and herbicide in terms of basic area were prothioconazole (20%, 7% and 5% of national cultivated areas of Germany, Estonia and Ireland) and glyphosate (11%, 8% and 5% of national cultivated areas of Spain, Estonia and Ireland) respectively, although evaluations using application frequency may result in the observation of different trends. Several recommendations are proposed to tackle current data gaps and deficiencies in accessibility and usability of pesticide usage data across the EU in order to better inform environmental risk assessment and promote evidence-based policymaking.

【 授权许可】

CC BY