🍇 Supporting farmers in their move towards sustainable plant protection is a gradual process - but it can be done. Watch our new video to learn how Sonia Leite of ApiBarraida helps Portuguese winegrowers avoid #pesticides "by as much as possible" 📽️

📢 Big news! SPRINT will hold its final conference on: 25 June 2025 (Brussels) 📅 SAVE THE DATE        This is your opportunity to discover our critical and extensive evidence on pesticide hazards and risks, and discuss the future of plant protection. Full details to come!

🗞️Our latest newsletter is out now with loads of content on our recent activities, new research on #pesticide reduction strategies on-farm, transition success stories, tips on how to minimise your exposure to pesticides in indoor dust & much more! 🌍🌱🚜 🔗

🗞️We've just published a new batch of our #PhD students' latest posters, showcasing their work on the #pesticides, the #environment, the #microbiome, #health and the #marine #atmosphere 🩺🚜🌍🌊🦠 🔗Go to our posters page here to see the full collection:

The full recording of our second 'ask the author' webinar is now live! 🍿 Give it a watch if you're interested in the extent of #pesticides and #PlantProtectionProducts found in sediments across Europe. #HorizonEurope

🎙️🌱Join us for our 2nd SPRINT 'Ask the Author' webinar on 27/11/24 from 12:30-13:30 CET! We'll be discussing #pesticide residues in #freshwater sediments, and their effect on the #microbiome. Register here 🔗 #HorizonEurope #Agriculture #Webinar #SciComm

More questions next time... Thanks so much for joining us today - our next #webinar is on 27/11 at 12:30-13:30 CET! We will be exploring our findings relating to #sediments and #pesticide residues... stay tuned for a registration form soon🌱🐝🌍🚜 #HorizonEU

Q: why are the predicted amounts residues so different from the actual amounts found? A: This could be due to legacy residues in the soil, spray drift in the air and other reasons. It could also be that the pesticides could have left the soil into the wider environment 🌍

Q: Were there fields which didn't have #pesticides? A: In 6 of the fields we sampled, we did not find traces of the 192 common pesticides we looked for (although it is likely that other pesticide traces are there). The vast majority of fields did have traces 🌱🐝

For more info on our sampling campaign and our findings, you can watch the video of our recent presentation at the #UN Science Summit. #UNGA79 #HorizonEU

The Q&A is well underway at our first #AskTheAuthor webinar now.... Some really interesting questions rolling in from our dozens of attendees- thanks to you all for bringing the discussion to life!

Want to find out more about Dennis' work on #pesticides in #soil? Check out our handy factsheet here:🔗🌱🪱🧐

What's the importance of all this? Pesticides in the soil can present a #risk to #SoilHealth and productivity. The #hazard presented by mixtures of pesticide residues is not well understood, but needs to be accounted for when we consider how safe they are.

🪱🚜Of the pesticides applied to farmer's fields that season, traces of 52% were found, whilst 48% of them were not. Interestingly, 642 #pesticide residues were found that had not been recently used, some of which are likely old but particularly long lasting in the #soil.

Key findings... 🌱🚜In 7 out of 10 fields there was a significant difference between the amount of pesticide residues found on #Organic fields with those that are farmed under conventional #EU standards.

SPRINT has sampled 201 fields, checking for 192 different #pesticide residues. We asked the farmers how they used pesticides, and compared the results...

Dennis is explaining to us how #pesticides have a tendency to miss their target and escape out into the wider #environment.

Currently, up to 40% of crop yields are lost to pests, but it is estimated that this could double if farming practices stayed the same but all pesticides were banned. However... there is increasing evidence that pesticides are causing trouble for the environment and human health.

Beginning now, SPRINT scientist Dennis Knuth is taking deep dive into the history of pesticides... Did you know that the first recorded pesticide use was about 4500 years ago??🧐 Synthetic pesticide use really became normalised during the industrialisation of farming in the 50s.

By looking at the lock-ins and barriers around making change in #pesticide use, and making #PlantProtection more #sustainable, we are working towards making policy-relevant recommendations based on the findings of the project. More on that here 🔗🌱