Type of indicator

Quantitative

Relative dimension and aggregated criteria

Environmental sustainability: Potential loss of biodiversity

Description

This indicator refers to pesticide toxicity based on the Pesticide Properties Database (PPDB) (University of Hertfordshire, 2007) and technical information from the World Health Organization (Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals and World Health Organization, 2010). It averages acute toxicity levels of active substances applied on farms.
The acute toxicity level of a substance is defined by its Lethal Dose median (LD50), i.e., the amount of substance given all at once, which subsequently causes the death of 50% of a group of test animals within a given period. Specifically, the values used in MilKey are for rats as test animals and for a study period of 90 days, with substances being administered orally. Such values are gathered in the PPDB (University of Hertfordshire, 2007).
This indicator is adapted from Aouadi (2011).

Indicator interpretation

Lower values indicate larger negative impacts on the environment

Indicator calculation

π‘Žπ‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘”π‘’ π‘œπ‘“ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝐿𝐷50 =βˆ‘π‘– (𝐿𝐷50 π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘π‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘’ π‘ π‘’π‘π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’ 𝑖) / Total number of active substances

Where:
𝐿𝐷50 π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘π‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘’ π‘ π‘’π‘π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’π‘– = Lethal dose median of active substance i, expressed in milligrams (mg) of active substance administered per kg of bodyweight of tested subjects
π‘‡π‘œπ‘‘π‘Žπ‘™ π‘›π‘’π‘šπ‘π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘œπ‘“ π‘Žπ‘π‘‘π‘–π‘£π‘’ π‘ π‘’π‘π‘ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘’π‘  = Total number of active substances used on the farm

Unit

mg/Kg

Scale definition

ReferenceΒ Β Β  values

(mg/kg)

 Scales Dexi interpretation References
5000 >=5000 Very low + (World Health and International Programme on Chemical, 2010)
2000 [2000; 5000] Low
200 [200; 2000] Medium
50 [50; 200[ High
< 50 Very high –

 

References

Adapted from (Aouadi, 2011)

(World Health and International Programme on Chemical, 2010)