Pesticides in Wallonia: Current situation and outlook
On Tuesday, Environment Minister Carlo DI ANTONIO and the Institut Scientifique de Service Public presented an overview of current legislation and studies on pesticides in Wallonia.
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What’s the situation and what’s being done in Wallonia?
Whether in urban or rural areas, the Walloon population is exposed to plant protection products, particularly herbicides and fungicides.
This exposure has harmful consequences for our quality of life, our health, our diet and theattractiveness of our region. Our natural resources (air, soil, water) and biodiversity are also impacted.
While a change of production and consumption model is the sustainable solution to this situation in terms of agriculture and food, we need to take measures to preserve ourselves and our resources. For individuals, businesses and public authorities, stopping the use of pesticides is a priority.
Substantial resources have been earmarked to support this development as part of the second Walloon Pesticide Reduction Plan. Individuals and public space managers can benefit from the advice and support of the Adalia 2.0 association(www.adalia.be).
In Wallonia, under the impetus of Environment Minister Carlo DI ANTONIO, the measures taken with regard to
plant protection products
are moving towards a drastic reduction or ban on the use of this type of product, in application of the precautionary principle.
For the Minister, Wallonia must have the ambition to move towards a pesticide-free territory, a guarantee of quality of life for all Walloons, but also of attractiveness for our territory.
FOCUS on 3 key measures recently implemented
1. Protecting people living near agricultural plots
On September 28, new measures aimed at reducing the impact of pesticides on Walloon territory, and particularly on people living near agricultural plots, came into force:
- It is forbidden to start spraying when wind speed exceeds 20 km/hour. Once in the air, gaseous pesticides can be transported over varying distances, depending on application conditions and the weather.
- Prohibition on spraying within 50 meters of the edge of any plot of land adjoining a facility (playgrounds, schools, boarding schools, crèches and childcare facilities) during the hours when the facility is in use.
- Obligation to use, throughout Wallonia, application equipment that reduces drift by at least 50%.
2. Glyphosate and neonicotinoids
Two bans on these products have come into force in Wallonia:
- The use of pesticides containing neonicotinoids since June 2018
- Glyphosate use by untrained users since March 2017
3. Protecting vulnerable groups
The application of phytopharmaceutical products has been prohibited since June1, 2018 in those parts of parks, gardens, green spaces and sports and leisure grounds to which the public has access.
In order to protect vulnerable members of the public, it is now forbidden to use pesticides in :
- Playgrounds and areas frequented by pupils on the premises of schools and boarding schools.
- Spaces frequented by children in crèches and childcare facilities.
- Children’s play areas open to the public.
- Food and beverage consumption areas open to the public.
- Hospitals, private healthcare establishments, nursing homes and functional rehabilitation centers.
- Establishments that welcome or accommodate the elderly, disabled adults or people with serious pathologies.
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How to interpret the results of the Expopesten study?
On Tuesday, ISSeP reported on the results of EXPOPESTEN, the first study to assess the presence of several pesticides in ambient air in Wallonia . A total of 46 different pesticides were analyzed over the course of a year in 12 localities. The choice of locations was made so as to cover different environments representative of where the majority of Walloons live.
OBSERVATIONS: Substances measured, location and frequency
Of the 46 active substances tested, the main ones found were herbicides and fungicides.
33 substances were measured in at least 1 sample, 4 were never detected and 9 were detected in at least 1 air sample, at a concentration below the limit of quantification.
It appears that the doses breathed in are more intense in agricultural localities and in spring, from April to June, when we spend proportionately more time outdoors. Exposure to outdoor pesticides is virtually nil in winter.
Pesticide detection frequencies are also linked to their use during the year.
Fungicides were only measured in spring and summer, while twoherbicide concentration peaks were observed in spring, summer and autumn. These main herbicide detection periods are consistent with their use for weed control on many different crops in spring, summer and on winter cereal fields in autumn. In contrast, insecticides were detected throughout the year.
CHILDREN’S EXHIBITION
The second part of the EXPOPESTEN study focused on the impact of living area on children’s exposure to pesticides, in particular through the detection of biomarkers in urine. This is the first study to assess children’s exposure to pesticides in Wallonia.
31 compounds were analyzed. 6 of them were measured in urine samples, as metabolites. Some metabolites were detected in 100% of children.
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What is the current Propulppp study all about?
While the concentrations measured in the EXPOPESTEN study constitute initial data on pesticide exposure in Wallonia, it was essential to consolidate them and scientifically validate the most effective ways of reducing this exposure.
It is for these reasons that Minister DI ANTONIO has entrusted ISSeP, in collaboration with CRA-W and Gembloux AgroBioTech, with a new Walloon-wide study.
This PROPULPPP study, which began at the start of 2018, aims to:
- Measure the exposure of Walloon citizens to plant protection product sprays.
- To recommend protective measures to limit it at the edges of treated fields.
Methodology
For several weeks now, air and spray sensors have been installed at the edges of fields, in schoolyards and other public sites close to fields. They are placed at different distances, behind physical barriers, in different weather conditions… to cover as many different scenarios as possible.
Sensor locations are kept confidential to prevent sabotage of the measurement campaign.
Objectives
- Evaluate pesticide exposure of people living near cultivated fields in the 24 hours following the start of spraying and in the days that follow.
- Assess how exposure varies with distance from the source.
- Evaluate the influence of agronomic parameters and the presence of a physical barrier on the contamination of field edges.
- Verify whether the predictive model of “resident” exposure used when approving substances reasonably covers the “resident” risk, and whether this model is suitable for estimating certain parameters for protecting residents from spray drift.
The final report drafted by ISSeP in collaboration with CRA-W, DGO3, ULiège will be published during 2019.
– What measures are planned in Wallonia?
In addition to objectifying the exposure of the population to plant protection product spraying in Wallonia, the Propulppp study aims to recommend protective measures to limit it at the edges of treated fields. The Walloon government has undertaken to revise these precautionary measures on the basis of these conclusions.
In addition to the regulatory measures adopted, a regional charter of good practice in the use of phytopharmaceutical products will also be set up, in collaboration with the agricultural sector .
The aim of this dual approach, in line with the second Walloon Pesticide Reduction Plan, approved by the Walloon Government on March 29, 2018, is both to ensure the implementation of mandatory measures to eliminate unacceptable practices in the light of current knowledge and agronomic practices, and to encourage the farming sector’s proactive approach. in reducing pesticide use.
A biomonitoring project called BIOPEST will also be carried out between now and 2020 to obtain baseline data on pesticide exposure in the general population and in target groups, namely farmers .
This method will involve measuring impregnation to substances by measuring their concentrations or those of their metabolites in human biological matrices, i.e. via blood and urine. Biomonitoring, which takes into account all sources of exposure, is increasingly seen as an essential tool for assessing human exposure to ubiquitous substances in the environment.
The acquisition of reference data on internal exposure will make it possible to:
- To study the evolution of Walloon exposure to pesticides over time and space.
- Establish a benchmark against which exposure can be compared in ” hot spot ” geographical areas, linked to “risky” behaviors or vulnerable populations (newborns, teenagers, farmers, etc.).
- Evaluate the effectiveness of preventive measures.
- Determine whether exposure to pesticides in Wallonia is similar to or different from exposure in other European countries and in countries with similar socio-economic levels.
ISSeP will lead this project in partnership with the Walloon Public Service, CRA-W, the Comité Régional Phyto, PreventAgri and the University of Liège.
PRESS CONTACTS :
Marie MINET, Spokesperson for Minister DI ANTONIO – 0479/888.475
Sophie SLEYPENN – Communications Manager, ISSeP – 04 229 83 49