No abstract

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.

<p>In this study we used the HAIR (HArmonized environmental Indicators for pesticide Risk) modelling tool <sub>[1],[2]</sub> for estimating the risks of pesticide use in Irish grassland soils, as part of the PROTECTS research project <sub>[3]</sub>. This project aims to provide baseline information in an Irish context to build towards mitigating the effects of pesticide use on terrestrial ecosystem services, focusing on pollinators and soils. Our study focused on estimating the potential terrestrial risks posed by pesticides on soils in the form of earthworm terrestrial risk-indicators (ETR<sub>e</sub>) using the HAIR2014 <sub>[2]</sub> for selected herbicide active substances (ASs). The work involved a refinement of the HAIR2014 tool for Irish conditions, as explained in Premrov et. al (2021) <sub>[4]</sub>. In brief, this included upgrading the spatial (GEO) database, climate data inputs and ‘crop-regions’ for Ireland <sub>[4]</sub>. An Irish grassland land-use (LU) map was derived from PERSAM data/maps <sub>[5]</sub> and the remaining inputs (i.e. soil inputs) were obtained from the HAIR2014 default databases <sub>[2]</sub> (assigned to the new grid <sub>[4]</sub>). The pesticide application/usage inputs were derived from published national surveys on plant-protection product (PPP) usage for Ireland <sub>[6]</sub>. Recent advancements include work on building a compound-database for HAIR2014 for the selected ASs of interest (e.g. glyphosate, MCPA, MCPP, 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, etc. ). This requires information for a number of physico-chemical and other parameters for these ASs, which are sourced from EU regulatory and evaluation data and EFSA publications, in addition to other relevant sources. We will present the generated HAIR2014 simulation outputs in the form of ETR<sub>e </sub>risk indicator maps for selected herbicide ASs for Irish grasslands.  The aim of this work is to generate pesticide risk indicator output maps for soils in Irish grasslands that will inform an area-based risk assessment, as well as assist the development of recommendations for potential future national soil-monitoring and sampling needs.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Acknowledgements</strong></p><p>Thanks go to Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for funding the PROTECTS project.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Literature</strong></p><p>[1] HAIR2014, (last assessed 2022). HArmonized environmental Indicators for pesticide Risk. URLs: https://www.pesticidemodels.eu/; https://www.pesticidemodels.eu/hair/hair2014.</p><p>[2] Kruijne, R., et al.  (2011). HAIR2014 Software Manual (2014);  Hair 2010 Documentation Alterra Wageningen UR.</p><p>[3] PROTECTS project, (2018). Protecting terrestrial ecosystems through sustainable pesticide use URL: https://protects.ucd.ie.</p><p>[4] Premrov, A., Saunders, M., Zimmermann, J., Stout, J., (2021). Insights into preliminary procedures for estimation of soil pesticide risks in Irish grasslands using HAIR2014 tool, IGRM2021, Limerick, Ireland. URL: https://www.mic.ul.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/624/Premrov%20IGRM%20poster.pdf.</p><p>[5] EFSA, (2015). Data PERSAM tool. URL:  https://esdac jrc ec europa eu/content/european food safety authority efsa data persam software tool (and there cited data sources)</p><p>[6] DAFM, (last assessed 2022) Pesticide Statistics Pesticide Usage Surveys. URL: https://www pcs agriculture gov ie/sud/pesticidestatistics/</p>