Inventory of pesticide emissions into the air in Europe

Creation of a reliable and comprehensive emission inventory of the pesticides used in Europe is a key step towards quantitatively assessing the link between actual pesticide exposure and adverse health effects. An inventory of pesticide emissions was generated at a 1 × 1 km grid, for the year 2000. The emission model comprises three components: estimates of active substance (AS) wind drift taking into account crop type, volatilization during pesticide application and volatilization from the crop canopy. Results show that atmospheric emission of pesticides varies significantly across Europe. Different pesticide families are emitted from different parts of Europe as a function of the main crop(s) cultivated, agro-climatic conditions and production intensity. The pesticide emission inventory methodology developed herein is a valuable tool for assessing air quality in rural and peri-urban Europe, furnishing the necessary input for atmospheric modelling at different scales. Its estimates have been tested using global sensitivity and Monte Carlo analysis for uncertainty assessment and they have been validated against national and local surveys in four European countries; the results demonstrate the robustness and reliability of the inventory. The latter may therefore be readily used for exposure and health risk assessment studies targeting farmers, applicators, but also bystanders and the general population in Europe.