The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a new indicator that tracks findings of pesticides in Europe’s rivers, lakes and groundwaters. The data, collected from EEA member countries across Europe, shows the share of water bodies where excessive levels of pesticides have been recorded from 2013 to 2019.
The new EEA indicator shows that levels of pesticides exceeding thresholds were measured in a quarter of all reported monitoring sites in European surface waters in 2019. From 2013 to 2019, this share varied between 13% and 30%. The share for groundwater with exceedances was considerably lower, at between 3% and 7%.
In the EU, pesticides are regulated on the basis of high protection goals for human health and the environment, with being authorised only after a comprehensive scientific risk assessment. Nevertheless, pesticide contamination of surface waters and groundwater can still occur and could affect aquatic fauna and flora.
Internet: <www.eea.europa.eu> (adapted).
According to the text above, judge the following item.
Contamination by pesticides in European waters is less likely to occur than in other places in the world due to strict control policies.
