Interpretation of Public Surface Water Monitoring Datasets: Characterising Pollutant Sources and their Exposure Pathways to Assess their Relative Importance.
Public surface water monitoring datasets are increasingly used within the regulatory process either directly (e.g. registration requirement under plant protection products [PPP] directive 1107/2009/EC) or indirectly (e.g. pharmacovigilance initiatives under the veterinary medicines [VM] directive 2001/82/EC). This public monitoring data provides valuable insight into the state of the environment, emerging issues and possible impacts. However, caution is required when collating, analysing and interpreting these datasets, especially where active substances are registered under multiple directives and used in a wide range of sectors. Interpretation of the results, considering confounding factors and understanding what might be concluded from such datasets is key to ensuring that policy responses and mitigation measures are targeted at the correct sector, use, source, pathway and use-period.
This poster collates observations from several insecticide investigations where such a multi-sectoral assessment of sources and pathways was conducted. The number of direct and indirect sources and pathways to surface water can be quite complex and the range of indirect/direct sources and their pathways to surface water are identified and described. Some uses in certain sectors are difficult to characterise as information on the ingredients/treatments used in the production of imported/domestic products are poorly documented and little or no data is often collected/available. One such sector is that of textiles where raw fibres, fabric and garments may have been treated with insecticides at different stages of production for different purposes in countries with different regulatory control and compliance. Potential gaps in source and pathway characterization, their impact on interpretation of surface water monitoring datasets and the requirement for and role of additional legislation to address these is discussed.
The poster is available for download.