Michael Hauschild and Morten
Birkved
Department of Manufacturing Engineering,
Technical University of Denmark
Inventory data for the use of pesticides in
agricultural or forestry product systems are typically based on the applied
dose and the contents of different ingredients in the commercial pesticide
product. Normally in LCA, the field is considered as part of the technosphere,
and then the emissions from the system are only those fractions of the applied
dose which reach the environment surrounding the field. The routes of emission
may be direct through wind drift or indirect through evaporation, leaching, or
surface run-off. Based on existing tools for hazard or risk assessment of
pesticides, a model has been developed, that allows estimation of emission
factors based on substance characteristics, which are normally available for
pesticide ingredients. The use of the model is illustrated and discussed for a
number of pesticides.