https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220810105121.htm

Until now, the PERSAM programme "has helped to calculate the concentration that could be anticipated of a given application of plant protection products," explained the UPV/EHU lecturer Manu Soto. "We have now managed to extrapolate the potential risks of these concentrations and the factors influencing that risk, not only taking soil conditions into consideration, but also the type of crop and the type of pesticide used."

Soil characteristics and environmental variables vary along the latitudinal axis across the European continent, which influences predicted environmental concentrations, degree of toxicity to soil biota and therefore characterisation of risk. "If toxicity varies depending on soil characteristics, the logic of applying a single dose across Europe cannot be followed, as one dose may have no effect in Sweden, but may exert an effect in Spain or France, for example. The EFSA wanted to make this differentiation, and contacted our group because it was essential to develop a landscape-based assessment method that would take regional variability into account," as Erik Urionabarrenetxea, a UPV/EHU researcher, explained.