Precision farming and environmental pesticide regulation in the EU-How does it fit together?

Precision farming technology allows pesticides to be applied precisely to the target while leaving the rest of the field untreated. In the regulation of pesticides, however, a homogeneously sprayed field is considered as the standard scenario. To this end, the current status of pesticide risk assessment from the perspective of terrestrial vertebrates, terrestrial invertebrates, and plants as well as aquatic organisms was examined with respect to the EU registration of a pesticide to be applied via precision farming techniques. We highlight which and how respective parts of the technical procedures could be adapted to account for this technology. Our results demonstrate that large parts of risk assessment procedures can be modified, reducing pesticide application and the exposure to the environment. However, further studies and definite procedures are essential to realistically apply, for example, area restriction in the currently required environmental risk assessment schemes. Precision farming has then great potential to achieve the political and public goal of reducing pesticide use, increasing environmental safety, and enhancing the needs of a sustainable agricultural practice. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:17-23. © 2022 SETAC.

Proposed Indoor Test Procedure to Quantify Pesticide Treatment Effects on Seed Consumption by Birds.

Pesticides used in seed coatings can influence seed consumption by birds and, therefore, actual exposure risk for them. A quantification of such effects on consumption is currently not regarded as a refinement factor in environmental risk assessments, although it is a possible option and should be considered, for example, for comparing exposure risk of different pesticides. It can highlight avoidance behavior, preventing birds from taking up lethal or sublethal pesticide doses. To formulate a standard, we developed an indoor test procedure based on established pen test methods, including 2- and no-choice phases with hunger periods. During testing, the highest standards of animal welfare were applied. Statistical approaches were used to determine the most appropriate number of replicates and for analysis. The effect on consumption of seeds is expressed as the ratio of consumed treated to untreated seeds. This consumption factor can be applied in avian risk assessments for seed treatments equivalent to an avoidance factor. We present, as an example, an application of the procedure to obtain a seed- and species-specific consumption factor for oilseed rape seeds (Brassica napus) provided untreated and treated with fungicides to greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). Overall, bird constitution was not negatively affected by the test procedure in either species. The test procedure was suitable for showing differences in expected consumption patterns, such as greater avoidance of treated seeds in 2-choice than in no-choice tests. However, the consumption differed between species and fungicide treatments, allowing us to rank avoidance effects of different fungicides. Using the presented standard procedure to generate comparable pesticide- and species-specific consumption factors for more species and seed treatments may result in refinement of default values and reduce animal trials in different designs in the future. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:359-370. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

High genetic structuring of Tula hantavirus.

Tula virus (TULV) is a vole-associated hantavirus with low or no pathogenicity to humans. In the present study, 686 common voles (Microtus arvalis), 249 field voles (Microtus agrestis) and 30 water voles (Arvicola spec.) were collected at 79 sites in Germany, Luxembourg and France and screened by RT-PCR and TULV-IgG ELISA. TULV-specific RNA and/or antibodies were detected at 43 of the sites, demonstrating a geographically widespread distribution of the virus in the studied area. The TULV prevalence in common voles (16.7 %) was higher than that in field voles (9.2 %) and water voles (10.0 %). Time series data at ten trapping sites showed evidence of a lasting presence of TULV RNA within common vole populations for up to 34 months, although usually at low prevalence. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a strong genetic structuring of TULV sequences according to geography and independent of the rodent species, confirming the common vole as the preferential host, with spillover infections to co-occurring field and water voles. TULV phylogenetic clades showed a general association with evolutionary lineages in the common vole as assessed by mitochondrial DNA sequences on a large geographical scale, but with local-scale discrepancies in the contact areas.