Every year in Italy are used around 150,000 tonnes of plant protection products. What they pollute the water. The benefit to crop production resulting from these substances - often known by the name of pesticides - is not questioned, but their use raises issues in terms of possible adverse effects on humans and the environment. Most of them, in fact, consists of synthetic molecules designed to combat certain pests and therefore generally dangerous to all living organisms. This was announced APAT (Agency for the Environment and Technical Services), during the press conference presenting the report at national level monitoring, coordinated in the years 2003/2005. Pesticides (or PPPs) are the substances used in plant protection.
There are about 400 active substances are used annually in Italy, these different formulations with thousands of commercial products. Many of these substances, however, are also present in biocidal products are used in various fields (disinfectants, wood preservatives, pesticides for non-agricultural use, descaling, etc..) For which you do not have equivalent information about quantities used and therefore can not quantify the impact in environmental terms. In particular, have been found in Italian waters, 119 different types of pesticides: 112 in superficial, 48 in ground water. Being designed to combat harmful organisms for crop production, these substances are potentially dangerous for humans and other living beings in general. In 2005 (last year and more representative surveys) controls covered 3,574 monitoring points and 10,570 samples for a total of 282,774 analytical measurements. (more ...)
