Risk assessment of a plant protection product based on an active ingredient that is already on the market has to take into account all relevant groundwater monitoring results for this substance. In the Netherlands the groundwater quality is monitored on a regular basis by the water companies that use groundwater for the production of drinking water and by the regional authorities.
The aim of the Groundwater Atlas for pesticides is to improve access to these regular groundwater monitoring results. The user may explore the data interactively, by selecting the substance of interest, the period in time, the sampling depth, and the monitoring networks. General statistics on the data are available, as well as several spatial and temporal data presentations, and basic report functions.
The application includes a proposal for the use of these groundwater monitoring results in the assessment by the Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides (Ctgb). The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) will decide on the legal implementation of the Groundwater Atlas in the registration procedure.
