Why we did it

To minimise the impact of pesticide use on animals and plants in waterways, it is important to understand the relative risk of pesticide active ingredients. These are the chemicals in commercial formulations of pesticides that exert the effect on the pest species.

Aquatic risk varies with toxicity, mobility and persistence of each active ingredient.

Pesticides are mostly applied in different mixes, meaning the complexity increases in assessing aquatic risk.

A decision support tool that can identify chemicals that pose less risk to the aquatic environment and assess the change in risk of different application mixes was required.

The tool needed to be easy to use for all people involved in the recommendation, purchase and application of pesticides to agricultural crops in Australia.

What we delivered

Pesticide Projector provides information to help users select pesticide active ingredients that are potentially less harmful to plants and animals in waterways.

Pesticide Projector calculates aquatic risk scores for nearly one-hundred pesticide active ingredients. The aquatic risk score estimates the risk posed by each pesticide active ingredient to plants and animals in waterways. The larger the aquatic risk score, the greater the risk to aquatic ecosystems. The aquatic risk score is calculated by multiplying the Measure of Persistence and Mobility and the Measure of Effect for each pesticide active ingredient.

Users can also compare the relative aquatic risk of alternate tank, or application, mixes. This allows for an assessment of existing versus modified pesticide application regimes.

While Pesticide Projector calculates aquatic risk based on the active ingredients contained within pesticides, it gives users easy access to product specific information, such as product labels, by directly connecting to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority’s Public Chemical Registration Information System.

Initially developed for the sugar cane industry and associated rotation crops, it has been expanded to other crops that the pesticide active ingredients are registered for in Australia.

Pesticide Projector should be used in conjunction with advice from agronomists or extension officers.