A Grower-Oriented Online System for Site-Specific Pesticide Use Risk Evaluation (PURE) – Website Demonstration.

The Pesticide Use Risk Evaluation (PURE) online system (http://128.120.179.136:8080/CPQRP/index.jsp) was designed for California growers to encourage the use of reduced-risk pesticides. The website offers two major evaluations of pesticide use, 1) Past Performance, and 2) Future Decision Making. In the beta version, PURE website includes the datasets of 20 years’ historical pesticide use data (1990 – 2009), 76 crops, and about 100 thousand fields. Growers should have their Grower ID and Site Location ID ready to analyze the use risks of pesticides based on past pesticide use reported to the Pesticide Use Reporting database. The PURE indicator was developed to evaluate environmental risk of pesticide application at field level in California. The indicator calculates risk scores for each pesticide application on a particular field based on the pesticide properties and the surrounding environmental conditions. The pesticide risks to four environmental compartments, including air, groundwater, soil, and surface water, are evaluated by the PURE indicator. The risk scores to the air compartment are evaluated by the emission potential, which is used to measure potential volatile organic compounds emission by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. In addition, the risk scores to the groundwater, soil, and surface water compartments are the ratios of the predicted environmental concentrations to the toxicities. In support of pesticide risk assessment and use of reduced-risk pesticide selection, PURE can be useful to assist growers, pesticide control advisors, and environmental protection organizations in mitigating pesticide use impacts on the environment.