DISCLAIMER: The tools, as they currently stand, are provided for research and informational purposes only. The underlying models, assumptions, data sources, and methodologies are experimental and might have not yet been peer-reviewed or independently validated. Outputs may be incomplete, uncertain, or inaccurate and should be interpreted with caution. The tools do not provide regulatory, medical, legal, toxicological, or professional risk assessment advice. For the time being, it must not be used as a substitute for expert judgment, regulatory review, or established risk-assessment frameworks, nor relied upon for decision-making related to human health, environmental protection, occupational safety, product registration, compliance, or policy.
Use of these tools for unlawful, harmful, misleading, or unethical purposes—including but not limited to regulatory circumvention, misrepresentation of risk, or inappropriate application to real-world pesticide use decisions—is strictly prohibited. The tool is provided “as is,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Ecological risk maps

The ecological risk maps present the risk quotient (RQ) of the pesticides in soil or water for the randomly selected districts of Czechia. The RQ for individual pesticides and the cumulative RQ (calculated under the assumption that all pesticides are applied simultaneously across all areas of the district) is displayed. Further information on the risk quotient calculation is available in the tool introduction. The title above each map specifies the indicator organism and scenario considered (single pesticide application in July using crops and pesticide application data from 2021). The RQ were calculated considering as exposure the average predicted values over a 56-day period following pesticide application.

Interpretation of Risk Quotient (RQ) Thresholds

For interpreting the Risk Quotient (RQ), two main factors were considered. First, regulatory thresholds that pesticide concentrations in the environment should remain substantially below effect thresholds. Specifically, concentrations should be at least five times lower than the safe limit for earthworms (RQ = 0.2 in soil) and ten times lower than the safe limit for fish (RQ = 0.1 in water). Second, when predicted environmental concentrations exceed the corresponding effect thresholds, RQ values exceed 1, indicating a potential high-risk condition.

Based on these considerations, RQ values are interpreted as follows:

  • Low risk: RQ < 0.2 for earthworms (soil) and RQ < 0.1 for fish (water), indicating that adverse ecological effects are unlikely.
  • Moderate risk: 0.2 ≤ RQ < 1 for earthworms and 0.1 ≤ RQ < 1 for fish, indicating potential for ecological effects.
  • High risk: RQ > 1, indicating that adverse ecological effects cannot be excluded.

Usage notes:

  • Select  a district, compartment, and chemical to display a RQ map,
  • After selecting a map for individual RQ, clicking on fields (polygons) will display the following attributes: Field ID, Crop, Individual RQ,
  • For cumulative RQ, choose ‘cumulative’ from the chemical dropdown list. The RQ values and number of pesticides applied (as active substances or AS) are shown when clicking on a field or river. The top contributors are given as: pesticide name | RQ value,
  • Individual and Cumulative RQ surface water additionally displays information about number of fields within the buffer zone around the selected river segment,
  • In the chemical dropdown selector, the list of chemicals displayed is dependent on the selected district and compartment,
  • Clicking on the “Refresh” button will bring back the first Cumulative RQ map sorted alphabetically.