Pesticides in groundwater

In response to the commitments made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, France has made environmental information a priority. The Ministry of the Environment regularly disseminates information on issues related to the ecological transition, in particular on the state of the environment and biodiversity and on exposure to risks and nuisances. This information shall cover in particular the contamination of aquatic environments, including the pollution of groundwater by pesticides.

Information on groundwater contamination by pesticides is regularly disseminated.
They are based on the exploitation of data from the groundwater monitoring network
which includes nearly 2,200 measuring stations spread across France (metropole and overseas).

The term ‘pesticides’ (also referred to as ‘plant protection products’ or ‘plant protection products’
) is a generic term that includes insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. They
are mainly used in agriculture for the protection of crops but also for the maintenance of
gardens (local communities, private individuals) or transport infrastructure. Pesticides may have
Competition Data-visualisation of Pesticides data in groundwater — Regulation — 15 December 2016 3/14
acute and/or chronic toxic effects on both aquatic ecosystems and humans.
Nearly 600 different pesticides are sought in the different water samples taken from the framework
monitoring groundwater quality. This results in a very large volume of data. Substances
followed in groundwater are the active substances of the products on the market, or their residues
degradation (metabolites).

One of the specificities of monitoring pesticides in groundwater is that the subsoil is very
often consisting of an overlay of groundwater more or less independent ones
others. One of the challenges is to have an overview of the qualitative status of all these bodies of water.
some are mobilised for the production of drinking water.

The following resources are proposed:
— Characteristics of measuring stations
— Characteristics of the various pesticides sought: herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, molecules
mother, metabolites, possible date of prohibition of use
— Characteristics of the different groundwater bodies followed
— Results of the holdings of the measurements carried out for each station for the 2007 vintages to
2012: number of measurements per year, pesticides sought, annual average concentrations, positioning
compared to current standards, etc.
— Results of the holdings of the measurements carried out for each station for the 2007 vintages to
2012: total pesticide concentrations and number of pesticides per station