title: Australia's pesticide environmental risk assessment failure: the case of diuron and sugarcane.
abstract: In November 2012, the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) concluded a 12 year review of the PSII herbicide diuron. One of the primary concerns raised during the review was the potential impact on aquatic ecosystems, particularly in the catchments draining to the Great Barrier Reef. The environmental risk assessment process used by the APVMA utilised a runoff risk model developed and validated under European farming conditions. However, the farming conditions in the sugarcane regions of the Great Barrier Reef catchments have environmental parameters beyond the currently validated bounds of the model. The use of the model to assess environmental risk in these regions is therefore highly inappropriate, demonstrating the pitfalls of a one size fits all approach.
authors.affiliation: School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Electronic address: g.holmes@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D057914:Agricultural Irrigation; D001315:Australia; D057894:Coral Reefs; D004237:Diuron / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D004777:Environment; D006540:Herbicides / Q000032:analysis; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011891:Rain; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D031786:Saccharum; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical
chemical_list: D006540:Herbicides; D012987:Soil; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D004237:Diuron
keywords: Diuron; Great Barrier Reef; Pesticide; REXTOX; Risk assessment; Sugarcane