Emissions of plant protection products to the environment. Evaluation of the policy goals of the Long-term Crop Protection Plan

Reductions were estimated to be 79 % (aim: at least 75 %) for emissions to soil and groundwater, 54 % (aim: at least 50 %) for emissions to air and 79 % (aim: at least 90 %) for emissions to surface water. The emissions to air constitute over 95% of total emitted amounts. This report presents technical backgrounds, boundary conditions and calculation methods. As compared to the interim evaluation in 1995, several calculations methods have changed significantly.

For the calculation of emissions to air, new information has become available so that it is now possible to account for direct emission of droplets to air and interactions of the plant protection products with soil and crop. The leaching and drainage is calculated directly for the most important substances, while in the interim evaluation an overall distribution was calculated. Drift to surface water and non-target areas is now based on an extended database on drift measurements and includes drift reduction measures. Emissions for the reference period and for 1995 have been recalculated with the new calculation procedures to make a proper evaluation of the reduction percentages possible.