New Tools To Reduce Impact Of Pesticides

The tools and a very large database, which are the result of the FOOTPRINT project, will be presented at the FOOTPRINT conference, which will take place at Giessen University in Germany on 18 and 19 March.

FOOTPRINT is a research project funded by the European Commission as part of its sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6).

“FOOTPRINT enables a consistent approach to pesticide risk assessment and is the first endeavour in Europe to incorporate the same concepts and approaches in a series of tools allowing integrated assessments to be performed at different scales in the EU,” said Dr Kathy Lewis, Head of STRI’s Agricultural & Environmental Research Unit.

The project has developed three pesticide risk assessment computerised tools for farmers, water managers and policy makers.

Each of the three tools allows:

· The identification of pesticide contamination pathways in the landscape;

· The estimation of levels of pesticides being transferred towards surface water and groundwater;

· Specific recommendations to be made to reduce the contamination of water resources by pesticides.

These tools are supported by a comprehensive database containing detailed information on chemical, fate and ecotoxicological properties of pesticides registered in the EU.

Further information about FOOTPRINT can be accessed at: http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/aeru/projects/footprint/index.htm;
the database can be accessed at: http://sitem.herts.ac.uk/aeru/footprint/index.htm
and details of the conference can be accessed at:
http://www.eu-footprint.org/finalconference.html