Development of a data set of pesticide dissipation rates in/on various plant matrices for the Pesticide Properties Database

Data relating to the rate at which pesticide active substances dissipate on or within various plant matrices are important for a range of different risk assessments including those related to occupational exposure and consumer safety. However, despite the importance of this data, dissipation rates, often expressed as the pesticide half-life, are not included in the most common online data resources. Databases have been collated in the past but these tend not to be maintained or regularly updated. The purpose of the exercise described herein was to collate a new database in a format compatible with the main online pesticide database resource (the Pesticide Properties Database, PPDB), to validate this database in line with the Pesticide Properties Database protocols and thus ensure that the data is maintained and updated in future. The outcome of the study is a database based on data collated from 1390 published articles covering over 400 pesticides and over 200 crops across a wide variety of different matrices (leaves, fruits, seeds etc.) for pesticide residues on the crop surface as well as residues absorbed within the plant material. This data is now fully incorporated into the PPDB.