Abstract
The UK Pesticide Load Indicator (PLI) is a multi-component indicator, which combines data on the usage of different pesticide active substances in UK agriculture with information on their propensity to persist, bioaccumulate, or be lost via surface run-off or leaching, as well as information on their relative toxicity to wildlife. Data are derived from the UK Pesticide Usage Survey (PUS) and the Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB). The PLI supplements traditional metrics such as the ‘total mass of pesticides applied’ and the ‘total area treated’ by considering the changing mixture of different substances applied through time and the effect of their varying chemical or biochemical properties. The PLI consists of 4 environmental fate and 16 ecotoxicity metrics. It does not quantify harm or reflect environmental outcomes, as it does not account for any mitigation practices or calculate exposure of real wildlife populations. Instead, the aim of the PLI is to illustrate relative trends in the potential pressure on the environment arising from the use of pesticides, to help inform UK policy decisions and the assessment of policy intervention.
| Original language | English |
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| Publisher | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Mar 2024 |