18 PESTICIDES AND OTHER BIOCIDAL PRODUCTS

Transcription

1 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products PESTICIDES AND OTHER BIOCIDAL PRODUCTS Introduction A large share of pesticides and biocides ends up in the environment, as intended. An assessment of the impact on ecosystems in general, and non-target organisms in particular, through an authorisation procedure prior to market release, in order, if possible, to prevent unacceptable effects following their application and to warrant the high-level protection of human and animal health is provided for by the Austrian Pesticides Act of 1997 (Pflanzenschutzmittelgesetz, PMG 1997; Federal Legal Gazette I No. 60/1997) and the Biocidal Product Act of 2000 (Biozidgesetz; Federal Legal Gazette I No. 105/2000) The Use of Chemical Pesticides in Austria (active substance consumption between 1992 and 1999) In Austria, the consumption of active substances in pesticides has averaged approx. 3,275 t per year since In terms of arable agricultural area without grassland, this equals 2.2 kg of pesticides per hectare. A comparison of the amounts placed on the market every year reveals a reduction of active substance volumes between 1993 and 1995, followed by an increase up to 1997, and finally a further decline to 3,119 t up to other 41 t insecticide/acaricides 110 t other herbicides sodium chlorate 230 t 957 t pyridate bentazone metazachlor metolachlor 61 t 27 t 30 t 79 t mecoprop (MCPP) 279 t remaining fungicides 493 t copper oxychloride 68 t mancozeb 168 t sulphur 732 t ,000 Figure 1: Average annual use of active substances of pesticides ( ). Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria State of the Environment (2002)

2 156 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products Metolachlor (approx. 79 t per annum) and metazachlor (approx. 30 t per annum) levels of more than 0.1 µg/l have been measured in the groundwater of several federal provinces. Groundwater results for the herbicides bentazon (approx. 27 t per annum) and pyridate (approx. 61 t per annum) are also positive. As for insecticides and acaricides, the amounts used have steadily declined since 1994; the difference between 1999 and 1994 amounted to 56 t, which represents a decrease of 42 %. After the elimination of lindane from the domestic market in 1998 due to the withdrawal of the final authorisation, endosulfan (4.7 t in 1999) is the only representative of questionable chlorinated hydrocarbons still used in open environment. To warrant the sustainable ecologisation and extensivation of Austrian agriculture, a further reduction of the use of pesticides is necessary. The "National Environmental Plan" provides appropriate measures under item "Matrix of agricultural measures: Agriculture as polluter". A reduction of the annual amounts of active substances used should always go hand in hand with a reduction of the application frequency of pesticides. Likewise, the use of ecologically questionable, e. g. persistent, ground-water threatening, or very toxic active substances, such as carbofuran, endosulfan, methamidophos, etc. should be sustainably reduced and replaced by active substances that are environmentally more compatible, e. g. more quickly degradable and/or substances with a more specific action range. In principle, appropriate solutions are already in place under the Austrian environmental programme and the programmes for integrated production in agriculture. Under these aspects, these programmes need to be particularly intensified Assessing the environmental behaviour of pesticides in the national authorisation procedure In the course of the authorisation procedure laid down by the 1997 Pesticides Act, the environmental impact of pesticides is assessed by the Austrian Federal Environment Agency. This evaluation involves the aspects "Fate and behaviour of a pesticide in the environment", with a focus on the degradation and distribution of active substances of pesticides in the environmental compartments soil, water, sediment and air, and "Ecotoxicological impact", with a focus on wild mammals, birds, fish, sediment-dwelling organisms, algae, insects, anthropods, earthworms, and other soil organisms. In addition, the tendency to bioaccumulation is also estimated. Based on the risk assessments, risk-mitigation measures were stipulated for users in the course of labelling. In order to prevent unacceptable effects on surface water, requirements were stipulated that the user had to comply with unconditionally when using the product: Waters: Harmful to water organisms Toxic to water organisms Very toxic to water organisms May cause adverse long-term effects on aquatic environment Soil: Toxic or very toxic to earthworms Harmful to soil micro-organisms Not easily degradable in soils Accumulates in soil May cause groundwater contamination State of the Environment (2002) Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria

3 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products 157 Distance requirements: 20 m distance to next surface water Other: 10 m distance to next surface water Toxic to birds 5 m distance to next surface water Toxic to mammals 1 m distance to next surface water Harmful to beneficial arthropods The aim should be to assess the impact of pesticides on the environment as part of the authorisation procedure for all pesticides available on the domestic market as provided for by the 1997 Pesticides Act. Environmental assessment plays a key role in the prevention of unacceptable effects on ecosystems through the application of chemical substances. Thanks to the activities of the Federal Environment Agency in this field, approximately 12 % of the 800 and more authorised pesticides have undergone a national environmental risk assessment. Furthermore, the environmental risk assessment of pesticides makes possible the labelling of the product according to its risk potential, which in turn enables users to use pesticides with the required care. Herein lies the significance of the inspection of labels applied to preparation packages and of comprehensive compliance monitoring with all application requirements and labelling elements. Likewise, it would be important to establish the comprehensive inspection of labels on all available pesticides, particularly in view of the fact that trivialising data, such as "not toxic" and "not harmful to health", are not permissible by law, but continue to appear occasionally nonetheless. According to 28 of the 1997 Pesticides Act, official pesticide inspection (this also includes proper labelling) is incumbent to the Federal Office and Research Centre for Agriculture (Institute for Evaluation of Pesticides). Comprehensive compliance monitoring with application requirements in agricultural practice continues to play a significant role. This inspection is the responsibility of the respective federal province and governed by the respective provincial law The evaluation of lindane and atrazine according to EU Directive 91/414/EEC The introduction of Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of pesticides on the market was the starting point for the approximation of authorisation requirements for pesticides in the European Community Member States. The harmonised procedure governing the pesticide authorisation within the EU is a two-step process. First, the evaluation and recognition of active substances of pesticides as active substances of pesticides authorised by the European Commission (with the cooperation of all EU Member States in the working programme evaluating a total of some 800 existing active substances). Second, the authorisation of pesticides with authorised active substances through the responsible national authority according to agreed harmonised evaluation criteria (continuously developed and adapted in cooperation with the European Commission and Member States, the Federal Environment Agency being involved in the process). Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria State of the Environment (2002)

4 158 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products As a first step of this EU working programme, Austria evaluated the active substances lindane, pyridate, amitraz, and dinocap. The expert evaluation of lindane and pyridate has been completed with the result that Austria supports the inclusion of pyridate in Annex I and opposes the inclusion of lindane in Annex I. The other EU Member States unanimously seconded Austria's proposal so that pyridate will continue to be an authorised pesticide in the Member States, while lindane will not. The EU decision on atrazine (the evaluation of which was carried out by Great Britain) is still pending, since the Member States have as yet been unable to reach an agreement with regard to the assessment of the risk to groundwater through atrazine and its metabolites. Since the use of atrazine in Austria has caused the values in the groundwater and surface waters to rise above the 0.1 µg/l limit value on numerous occasions, all authorisations for atrazinecontaining formulations were revoked in April 1995 and no more authorisations have been granted since. To prevent the renewed authorisation of atrazine-containing pesticides in Austria, it is vital that Austria speaks out against the inclusion of this active substance for technical reasons in Annex I of Directive 91/414/EEC Pesticides and biocidal products for non-agricultural purposes Pesticides and biocidal products are used for the following non-agricultural purposes: for private purposes (house and garden) for commercial purposes (e. g. wood preservatives) for community purposes (e. g. traffic zones, parks) for plant control at railway tracks and golf courses (herbicides). The following data are derived from a representative survey carried out for the Federal Environment Agency by the Institute for Market and Social Opinion Analysis (IMAS International) on the use of pesticides and biocidal products around the house and garden. 35 % of the respondents had used pesticides in The majority of users were women, the age groups over 50 and farmers. Federal provinces with a high share of users are Lower Austria, Burgenland, and Upper Austria, those with a small share are Vienna, Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. The use of pesticides and biocidal products for non-agricultural purposes: Living area: flies, ants, other "vermin"; aphids on ornamental plants; moths, mice, and rats Rooms in apartment houses: esp. insects (pyrthroids, phosphorous acid esters); rodents (rodenticides, esp. cumarin derivates) Garden: snails, aphids, spider mites (on ornamental plants), weed and moss control on lawns, keeping paths, terraces and other areas free from weeds (herbicides), mole control Wood preservatives: Protection against or control of wood-destroying fungi and insects in rooms and outdoors. In Austria approx. 15 to 20 different active agents in fungicides and insecticides (estimate) Golf courses: on approx. 5 % of the course, predominantly fungicides are used to control diseases of the lawn and occasionally insecticides and herbicides State of the Environment (2002) Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria

5 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products 159 Federal roads: periphyton control, esp. by mowing, mulching and by using herbal brushes. Insecticide and fungicide use: rare, e. g. control of horse chestnut leafminer, fungi in rose beds. use of herbicides: selective, e. g. on motorways and highway areas around protective fences with vigorous vegetation, in lay-bys and at service stations Parks and green areas: using Vienna and Graz as examples: predominantly selective use of insecticides and fungicides (roses or other ornamental plants, to control the horse chestnut leafminer: diflubenzuron). Herbicides: not applied in Vienna, in Graz: dichlobenil, glyphosate, and propyzamide Railway tracks: current use of herbicides: 9,700 kg (2.3 kg/ha); surface area treated per annum: approx. 4,200 ha; between May and July "Round up" (glyphosate as isopropylamine salt) and "Garlon 4" (triclopyrbuoxyethlester) are usually applied once. In the open environment, pesticides (predominantly herbicides and fungicides on golf courses, traffic and industrial zones, in parks and on sports grounds) are applied only selectively in most cases. As the studies have shown, these user groups exhibit a high degree of awareness so that the proper and economical use of substances seems guaranteed. The range of pesticides and biocidal products used in Austria for non-agricultural purposes is manifold. Biocidal products used in households are sometimes inadequately labelled. The lack of transparency for end users and private users is thus considerable. The proper application of pesticides and biocidal products by private individuals around the house and garden cannot be checked. The type of application is especially important. Misconceptions regarding the application of these products can have fatal consequences for humans and the environment. Indoors, these products are used in the immediate human environment. There is an urgent need for further research on these special exposure scenarios. The range of pesticides and biocidal products available and accessible for private users in the house and garden should be regulated and layman access to marketed packages intended for agricultural and commercial horticulture prevented. It is urgently required that the services at neutral consulting offices be upgraded so as to reduce technical knowledge gaps among users and thus reduce the potential for abuse. In addition, problem awareness among the population should be enhanced through targeted media campaigns in the press, on the radio and on television. Some 10 t herbicides are used in the environs of ÖBB railway tracks per annum. Introducing "Integrated Vegetation Management", and thereby further reducing the need for pesticides in this area, could ensure more discriminate herbicide use. The amplified use of physical methods to control undesired plant growth should be promoted, e. g. the hot steam method. Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria State of the Environment (2002)

6 160 6 th Report on the State of the Environment in Austria 18. Pesticides and Other Biocidal Products 18.5 First-time registration and evaluation of biocidal products in Austria The implementation of EU Directive 98/8/EC "Concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market" in national law marks at long last, the legal regulation of biocidal products by the Biocidal Product Act (Federal Legal Gazette I No. 105/2000): The Act provides for a comprehensive evaluation and authorisation procedure for active substances and biocidal products, taking into account in particular the risks for humans and the environment associated with the application of these products. In addition, the new law also regulates the classification, packaging, and labelling of biocidal products. There are plans for the creation and management of a biocidal product directory listing all authorised and registered biocidal products. The sale of products with especially dangerous properties to private persons will be prohibited. "New active substances" 1 are already subject to the authorisation or registration procedure, ensuring the comprehensive testing of the active substance's and the biocidal product's efficacy as well as toxicological and ecotoxicological action. "Existing active substances" 2, which undergo evaluation in a common EU working programme, may stay on the market (according to the national regulations of the individual countries) until a decision is reached on their inclusion in the common list (i. e. Annexes I, IA, and IB of Directive 98/8/EC) of the European Union. In this context, compulsory notification was introduced in Austria for biocidal products presenting a particular risk. 1 Active substances in biocidal products placed on the market after 14 May Active substances in biocidal products that were on the market before 14 May State of the Environment (2002) Umweltbundesamt/Federal Environment Agency Austria