Current farm systems rely on the use of Plant Protection Products (PPP) to secure high productivity and control threats to the quality of the crops. However, PPP use may have considerable impacts on human health and the environment. A study protocol is presented aiming to determine the occurrence and levels of PPP residues in plants (crops), animals (livestock), humans and other non-target species (ecosystem representatives) for exposure modelling and impact assessment. To achieve this, we designed a cross-sectional study to compare conventional and organic farm systems across Europe. Environmental and biological samples were/are being/will be collected during the 2021 growing season, at 10 case study sites in Europe covering a range of climate zones and crops. An additional study site in Argentina will inform the impact of PPP use on growing soybean which is an important European protein-source in animal feed. We will study the impact of PPP mixtures using an integrated risk assessment methodology. The fate of PPP in environmental media (soil, water and air) and in the homes of farmers will be monitored. This will be complemented by biomonitoring to estimate PPP uptake by humans and farm animals (cow, goat, sheep and chicken), and by collection of samples from non-target species (earthworms, fish, aquatic and terrestrial macroinvertebrates, bats, and farm cats). We will use data on PPP residues in environmental and biological matrices to estimate exposures by modelling. These exposure estimates together with health and toxicity data will be used to predict the impact of PPP use on environment, plant, animal and human health. The outcome of this study will then be integrated with socio-economic information leading to an overall assessment used to identify transition pathways towards more sustainable plant protection and inform decision makers, practitioners and other stakeholders regarding farming practices and land use policy.

Biotechnical Faculty University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia

Centre for Development and Environment University of Bern Bern Switzerland

Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and Department of Biology University of Aveiro Aveiro Portugal

Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and Department of Environment and Planning University of Aveiro Aveiro Portugal

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas CIEMAT Madrid Spain

Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center Ramazzini Institute Bologna Italy

Countryside and Community Research Institute University of Gloucestershire Cheltenham United Kingdom

Department for Sustainable Food Process Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Piacenza Italy

Department of Agroecology Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark

Department of Animal Science Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark

Department of Public Health Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark

Dutch Mammal Society Nijmegen Netherlands

Ecologic Institute Berlin Germany

Host Microbe Interactomics Animal Sciences Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen Netherlands

INSERM U1219 EPICENE Team Bordeaux University Nouvelle Aquitaine France

Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences Utrecht University Utrecht Netherlands

Institute of Agriculture and Tourism Department of Agriculture and Nutrition Poreč Croatia

Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry Organic Environmental Chemistry Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon Geesthacht Germany

Institute of Geography University of Bern Bern Switzerland

Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation Soil Biology Department University of Hohenheim Stuttgart Germany

Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria INTA Buenos Aires Argentina

KU Leuven Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Geo institute Celestijnenlaan Leuven Belgium

Land Quality Management LQM Nottingham United Kingdom

National Research Centre for the Working Environment Copenhagen Denmark

Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Department of Technology Management and Economics Technical University of Denmark Lyngby Denmark

Radboud Institute for Health Sciences Radboudumc Nijmegen Netherlands

Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FIBL Frick Switzerland

Soil Physics and Land Management Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen Netherlands

Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena Cartagena Spain

Wageningen Food Safety Research Wageningen Wageningen University and Research Wageningen Netherlands

Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group Wageningen University and Research Wageningen Netherlands

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