As part of the EU-wide PARC project, the environmental risk assessment of pesticides is being optimized through the development of improved tools for evaluating plant protection products during the authorization process. This involves transitioning to a system-based approach by enhancing the reusability of data and identifying opportunities to simplify assessments and allocate resources more efficiently. As part of this project, this work package focuses on optimizing exposure prediction of pesticides in aquatic ecosystems.

This work package is dedicated to refining the prediction of pesticide exposure in aquatic ecosystems. The aim is to improve the calculation of predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) of pesticides and to enhance their alignment with actual measurements. To achieve this, existing models, such as the GERDA model, are being tested and improved.

Initial results do not indicate that more complex models provide more accurate predictions of maximum environmental pesticide concentrations than “simpler” models based on assumed key risk drivers. However, data-driven model refinement based on real environmental monitoring and sensitivity analysis can lead to more efficient and protective models.

In the ongoing fourth year of the project, PEC modeling and sensitivity analyses of model parameters are being continued. European measured environmental concentrations (MECs) are being analyzed with consideration of regulatory specifics at the national level and potential influencing factors, in order to approximate “real” environmental concentrations (RECs) and establish the best possible validation basis for PECs.