Pesticide Fate Research Trends within a Strict Regulatory Environment: The Case of Germany

Germany has adopted tough regulations to prevent environmental contamination from agricultural chemicals. This is exemplified by strict standards for drinking water that limit chemical concentrations to 0.1 part-per-billion (ppb), regardless of toxicity. Current German regulatory and research trends are described, with an emphasis on basic pesticide fate research. Several key trends are identified: (1) protection of ground water, surface water, and the atmosphere are all important regulatory priorities, (2) computer models, soil lysimeters, and monitoring play critical roles in regulation and research, (3) increased emphasis is being placed upon multidisciplinary studies to address complex research problems, and (4) solutions are being sought to meet the regulatory goal of absolute protection of drinking water, especially ground water.