Conducting groundwater monitoring studies in Europe for pesticide active substances and their metabolites in the context of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009

Abstract

Executive summary Groundwater monitoring is recommended as a higher-tier option in the regulatory groundwater assessment of plant protection products in the European Union. However, to date little guidance has been provided on study designs. SETAC EMAG-Pest GW, a group of regulatory, academic, and industry scientists, was created in 2015 to establish scientific recommendations for conducting such studies. This report provides the SETAC EMAG-Pest GW group's recommendations on study designs and study procedures. Because of the need to assess the vulnerability to leaching in both site selection and in extrapolating study results, information on how to assess the vulnerability to leaching is a major topic in this report.