08/01/2011

Thematic Strategy on Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products –Transferring proposals to Biocides

German Federal Environment Agency, FKZ 3708 63 400, project duration 2008 - 2011

Sponsor

German Federal Environment Agency (UBA FKZ 3708 63 400)

Realisation

Hydrotox GmbH, Stefan Gartiser project management)
Ökopol GmbH, Heike Lüskow
Öko-Institut e.V., Rita Groß

Project duration

November 2008 – August 2011

Project description

The sustainable use of pesticides pursues, independent of the authorisation of single products, the aim to minimise existing environmental risks of pesticide use and therefore contribute to the reduction of its impact on the environmental protection goals. The Thematic Strategy (TS) and the Framework Directive 2009/128/EC (FWD) on sustainable use of pesticides have so far only been implemented for plant protection products (PPP). For biocides there exists no harmonised approach. Within the project the possibilities and requirements for transferring measures of the FWD to the biocide area have been analysed, with specific focus on wood preservatives, insecticides, and antifouling products.

Several biocidal active substances are found in the outlets of sewage treatment plants and in surface water, but an inventory of the present environmental impact as well as reliable data on biocide consumption and use patterns, which could be used to identify key action areas, are generally missing. These data are urgently needed for the development of suitable indicators and the definition of the objectives. Sustainable use of biocides addresses the three issues; social, environmental and economic impact at which the ecological background assigns the borderline and beam barrier of the economic and social development. A systematic analysis of the instruments for improving sustainable use of pesticides described in TS and FWD indicated that many issues can be transferred to the biocide area. This concerns e.g. education and training, requirements for sales, the establishment of awareness programmes, control of the machinery for biocide application, the development of best practice standards based on integrated pest management principles, and the collection of statistics on biocide consumption. Some biocide specific characteristics need to be considered: E.g. unlike PPP, the intended use of some biocides is to be directly applied in water bodies or indoors. Furthermore for some product types, emissions during the service life of biocides (e.g. through leaching) are more relevant than during the application phase. The authors recommend the development of an action framework on sustainable use of biocides on European level. Key problem areas and action options should be identified and prioritised after analysis of existing data. These measures could be implemented by establishing a new TS or FWD on biocides or by amending the existing TS or FWD one on pesticides. However certain measures could be first implemented on national level and then be included in a national action plan. A prioritisation of biocide uses to be considered is required. Later on, existing national measures could be implemented in a general strategy on sustainable use at European level.

Further Informationen

The final report (in English) has been published as UBA-Texte Nr. 6/2012. In a follow-up project aspects of sustainable use of disinfectants, masonry preservatives, and rodenticicdes are analysed.

The Öffnet externen Link in neuem Fensterfinal report can be downloaded from the UBA website.

Contact person at Hydrotox is Stefan Gartiser.

Mail: Öffnet ein Fenster zum Versenden der E-MailGartiser(at)hydrotox.de, phone: +49-(0)761-45512-24

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