Inventory of pesticide emissions into the air in Europe

The pesticide emission inventory methodology developed herein is a valuable tool for assessing air quality in rural and peri-urban Europe, furnishing the necessary input for atmospheric modelling at different scales. Its estimates have been tested using global sensitivity and Monte Carlo analysis for uncertainty assessment and they have been validated against national and local surveys in four European countries; the results demonstrate the robustness and reliability of the inventory. The latter may therefore be readily used for exposure and health risk assessment studies targeting farmers, applicators, but also bystanders and the general population in Europe.