A Comparison of Pesticide Environmental Risk Indicators for Agriculture

1. A Comparison of Pesticide Environmental Risk Indicators for Agriculture Thomas Greitens Esther Day

2. Ranking CHEMS 1 (USA) EIQ (USA) MATF (USA) PERI (Sweden) Predicted Environmental Concentration (PEC) EPRIP (Italy) EYP (The Netherlands) SyPEP(Belgium) SYNOPS (Germany) Risk Indicator Systems

3. AFT’s Research Goals • Evaluate usability of environmental risk indicators. • Analyze potential applicability at farm level. • Assess accuracy.

4. Methodology Data Collection: • 2000-2001 application data, 4 FL fields, tomatoes and peppers • Soil samples • Weather data • Pesticide parameters

6. Results • Most models track reductions in potential risk consistently over time. • Some models are “outliers” but consistent with previous research.

7. Usability • Ranking method simpler. • PEC method more data intensive, more complex but • PEC also gives more complete picture of potential risk.

8. Models – Soil and Water • Some consider potential risk to soil • All consider potential risk to aquatic organisms. • Some calculate potential groundwater leaching. • Some consider potential risk to human health (e.g. cancer risks).

9. Farmer Applicability Models can be used to: • Analyze past and future applications • Obtain certification.

10. Research Concerns • Absence of data • Adaptability of models? • Non-transferable standards (e.g. European drinking water standards)

11. SYNOPS as a Separate Model Synoptisches Bewertungsmodell für PflanzenSchutzmittel Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Institute for Technology Assessment in Plant Protection

12. SYNOPS Modules SYNOPS Modules • SYNOPS calculates PEC over time in: • Soil • Surface water • Air • Bio-organisms (earthworms, fish, algae, daphnia) • Groundwater

13. Soil Risk Potential - Paraquat

14. Water Risk Potential - Paraquat

15. Risk Potential to Organisms • Acute: LD50 and LC50 of organisms and short term predicted concentration. • Chronic: based on NOEC of of organisms and long term predicted concentrations.

16. Acute – Fish

17. Chronic – Fish* *all chemicals, one field

18. Propensity to Leach

19. Scale of SYNOPS • SYNOPS lends itself to larger scale evaluation • Possible to expand from farm-level, homogeneous environmental conditions to larger, heterogeneous conditions.

20. Validation of Model • ENVIROMAP project - German-South African collaboration. • Comparison between actual and predicted concentrations in orchards in the tributaries of the Lourens River catchment.

21. Prediction vs. Measurement • Regression analysis: significant positive correlation (R2=0.95) between predicted and measured average runoff loads in the tributaries. • Basic drift deposition values proved accurate (R2=0.96) in predicting in-stream loads. results indicate applicability to South African conditions.

22. Conclusions Models using: • Ranking method  know potential risk before application. • PEC method  know potential risk after application therefore Can be used by farmers to make strategic choices • Measure reductions achieved by IPM programs • Some models better reflect regional concerns But… • Limited to pesticides, no nutrient impact assessment

23. Future AFT Research • Further integrate models in the concept of IPM program evaluation and environmental risk assessment.

24. A Comparison of Pesticide Environmental Risk Indicators for Agriculture