A regulatory tool was required by the UK government to assess the ecotoxicological risk of pesticides used on hard surfaces. A series of projects were undertaken to investigate and model the losses of herbicides from concrete, asphalt and railway ballast. Experimental work was undertaken to establish the relationship between herbicide properties and a) the fraction lost in washoff, and b) partitioning to the hard surface. Monitoring studies in the real, urban environment provided validation data. The scenarios are underpinned by data from real-world examples. The HardSPEC model predicts herbicide concentrations in surface water for scenarios of herbicide use in an urban area and a rural major road following application by professionals, and in a residential area following application by amateurs. Groundwater concentrations are predicted following herbicide application to a railway from a spray-train.

Herbicide loss from hard surfaces: The HardSPEC model

248th National Meeting (2014)

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