Indicators in Europewith a special emphasis on the Netherlands and the role of

the OECD

Robert Luttik

Centre for Substances and Risk assessment

National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Introduction of myself Last 15 years involved in pesticide risk assessment

Assessing environmental risks for agricultural pesticides and biocides Developing of assessment schemes, including emission, fate and

effect assessment

Special topics: Birds and mammals Higher plants

International experience: Chair of two working groups of the EPPO (European and

Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) Member of the Environmental Working Group of the Scientific

Commission of Plants of the EU Peer reviewer of ECOFRAM program of the USEPA

Dutch indicators

Over the last 10 years joint effort by government , industry and farmers to reduce the use and emission of pesticides in the Netherlands.

The use of suitable modelling techniques instead of monitoring of environmental quality

The developed tool uses information on sales data, agricultural knowledge, emission characteristics (physico-chemical properties and geographical characteristics for the Netherlands.

Dutch indicators

Aquatic indicators: Fish Crustaceans Algae Aquatic ecosystem

Terrestrial indicators Earthworms Birds (Partridge)

Groundwater indicators Drinking water criterion (focussed on human beings) Ecological based indicators

Dutch indicators

Till now only for the acute situation (exception is groundwater) The indicators are based on the quotient of the predicted environmental

concentration divided by the toxicity of the species of concern or ecosystem of concern and multiplied by the number of hectares treated.

PEC= ------------------- * number of hectares

EC50 or LC50

Dutch indicators

The indicator is the quotient of the predicted environmental Concentration (PEC)and the toxicity for a certain group of organisms, which is scaled for the area treated with a compound.

Compound 1 (PECc1 / LC50c1) * (AREAc1 / AREAtotal) = OUTCOMEcl Compound 2 (PECc2 / LC50c2) * (AREAc2 / AREAtotal) = OUTCOMEc2

..................... ...……. / ..……... * ....…….. / .....………. = ……………..Compound n (PECcn / LC50cn) * (AREAcn / AREAtotal) = OUTCOMEcn --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- all compounds = Indicator value

Dutch indicators

For the acute indicator for the groundwater ecosystem toxicity values of daphnids are used as a surrogate for the organisms living in this particular ecosystem.

For the acute risk indicator describing the risk for organisms living on the soil (like mammals or birds) one particular bird species is used as an indicator species: the partridge. Why a bird? On an average birds are more sensitive to pesticides than mammals. Why a partridge? The partridge is a well known species knowing to forage in arable areas

and amongst other influences, pesticides are mentioned as one of the reasons for the decline of the partridge.

Results of first attempts (1984 to 2000)

Input necessary to run the indicators: Estimates of the mean dosage and mean drift percentages: every fourth year an official inquiry is

held amongst farmers. Toxicity values for the different groups of organisms for each compound:

industrial dossiers and by means of literature surveys. Sales data: sales data are provided by the NEFYTO

on a yearly base and are adjusted for the proportion of the market that is not represented by the branch organisation All the calculations for the PEC values are based on the same assumptions used in the Dutch

registration procedures

Drawback: many missing toxicity values for older compounds.

History Since the introduction of the Multi Year Crop Protection Plan the amount of pesticides used in the Netherlands has decreased with ± 50%.

Very soon the question was raised whether a substantial decrease of the amount of pesticides used by the farmers has a proportional enhancement in the quality of the environment.

Use of pesticides in the Netherlands (source Nefyto)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Ref. 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Inde

x (1

984-

1988

= 1

00%

)

Aquatic indicators In 1997 acute risk indicators were developed for the aquatic ecosystem: one based on algae, one on daphnids, one on fish and one for the aquatic ecosystem.

In 1999/2000 3 new indicators were introduced: one for the groundwater ecosystem and two for the terrestrial compartment (one based on earthworms and one based on birds)

Acute risk indicators for the aquatic ecosystem

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Ref. 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Inde

x (1

984-

1988

= 1

00%

)

Algae

Daphnids

Fish

Aquaticecosystem

Terrestrial indicators

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Ref.19

8919

9019

9119

9219

9319

9419

9519

9619

9719

9819

9920

00

Inde

x (1

984-

1988

= 1

00%

)

EarthwormsBirdsgroundwater (ECO)Groundwater (0.1ug/l)

Driving forces

Compounds that contribute more than 1% to the index for birds (n=154) in the year 2000.

parathion (ethyl) 25.1% fentin-acetate2.49%dimethoate 12.3% diquat-dibromide 2.09%mancozeb 12.2% mecoprop-p 1.91%pirimicarb 5.62% zineb 1.54%MCPA 4.69% glyphosate 1.48%propachloor 4.37% chlormequat 1.45%carbofuran 3.2% metamitron 1.44%thiometon 2.69% chlorpyrifos 1.4%maneb2.56% chlorfenvinphos 1.11%

Differences to expect

use of active substances in agriculture

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

bulbs

flowers tre

es fruit

outdoors

glassh

ouses

meadows

kg

Validation

Only partly for the aquatic ecosystem. A study carried out with measured concentrations of pesticides in the surface water showed roughly a similar outcome of the trend as calculated with the aquatic indicator.

Real validation is at this moment probably difficult: Simple first tier approaches are used e.g.:

Single field versus a whole system No organic matter in surface water All the food the bird eats is treated food No avoidance behaviour is included Standardised soil for the earthworm indicator

Monitoring in the Netherlands is very haphazard, no coordination.

OECD (history)

The idea for the OECD Aquatic Risk Indicator (ARI) project emerged from the first OECD Workshop on Pesticide Risk Indicators, held in Copenhagen in April 1997.

At that time some member countries had committed to pesticide risk reduction, as measured by indicators mainly driven by quantities of pesticide sold.

Many countries at the Workshop were interested in development of ‘science-based’ risk indicators linking use, fate, and hazard data to measure changes over time in aggregate risk and the impacts of risk reduction initiatives.

OECD (aims)

Indicators should be scientifically robust and user friendly Indicators should link hazard and exposure data with use data Indicators should complement but not replicate or compete with the

tools used for registration and risk assessment Separate indicators of risks to human health and to different

compartments of the environment would be better than a single indicator of pesticide risks

OECD (Terrestrial indicators, TERI)

Compare different indicator models to see what results they produce and how user-friendly and transparent they are.

Bring together the experience of the project participants by providing opportunities for the participants to discuss the results of their separate efforts, and by creating a network for information exchange and assistance that includes participants of the ARI project.

Provide information to the OECD Pesticide Risk Reduction Steering Group, which oversees the indicator project on behalf of the Working Group on Pesticides.

OECD (TERI)

Belgium, Denmark, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and the OECD.

(Czech Republic, Hungary)

Dutch indicator: earthworms, birds Norwegian index: earthworms, birds, bees Danish Index of Load: earthworms, mammals, birds Danish Frequency of Application: no toxicity data included

OECD

Comparison of Dutch, Danish and Norwegian indicators (Birds)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Years

inde

x (1

996

= 10

0%)

Danish indicatorDutch indicatorNorwegian indicatorSales data

OECD

Dutch indicator In principle a single indicator Based on PEC/TOX and area treated (fraction of total)

Norwegian indicator In principle not a single indicator, but the sum of several indicators:

birds, bees and earthworms persistence and bioaccumulation

Not solemnly based on PEC/TOX and the area treated (in this case number of hectares, but Scoring according to breakpoints.

OECD (some examples of scoring)

Earthworms Depending on the value for the TER (toxicity over exposure ratio):

If TER is > 100 the score = 0 If TER is < 100 and > 10 the score = 2, and If TER is < 10 the score = 4

Bees Depending on the value for the TER (toxicity over exposure ratio):

If TER is > 10 the score = 0 If TER is < 10 and > 1 the score = 0.5, and If TER is < 1 the score = 1

OECD

Danish indicator In principle a single indicator Based on sales data (kg sold) and the toxicity of the species of concern

As a result the Danish indicator will always be lower in case a compound is sold less or not at all anymore.

For the Dutch indicator this depends on whether the PEC/TOX for a certain compound is higher or lower than the average of the compounds.

Future (GIS based indicators)

The Netherlands are divided into approx. 136000 cells of 500 x 500 m2 each. For each of the cells the area of approximately 50 crops is known. Daily average temperatures over a 20-year period (1981 – 2000) are available for

15 meteorological regions. Soil characteristics (organic matter content, density and pH) for each of the cells. The ratio of the surfaces of water and soil for each of the cells.

Future

Information on a weekly basis about the usage of pesticides in crops (not every year available)

Information on yearly sales of pesticides (active ingredient) in the Netherlands Information on the use of application techniques for the crops Information on the use of special emission reduction measures

Chronic situation