SyPEP: A system for predicting the environmental impact of pesticides in Belgium

SyPEP (System for Predicting the Environmental impact of Pesticides) has be en developed at VAR in order to assist the legal authorities with decision making in the field of environmental impact of pesticides. This system cons iders surface- and groundwater as environmental compartments and deals most ly with the toxicity towards aquatic organisms (short-term and long-term ef fects). The first step is the calculation of Predicted Environmental Concen trations in surface and groundwater: PECsw and PECgw, respectively. The sec ond step is the calculation of Toxicity Exposure Ratios (TER) which are the n converted into scores. SyPEP has been compared to other environmental ind icators within the framework of the GAPER project (Concerted Action on Pest icide Environmental Risk indicators financed by DG6 of the European Commiss ion).