Propagation of Uncertainties in Soil and Pesticide Properties to Pesticide Leaching.

The article presents a study which aims to quantify the uncertainties in pesticide and soil properties and to examine their contribution to the uncertainty in potential usage (SP90). A regular grid sample of points which cover the entire of the agricultural area in the Netherlands was chosen randomly. The analysis revealed that the uncertainty regarding the SP90 is 10 times smaller compared to uncertainty on the leaching concentration at individual point areas. The significant implication for the regulation of pesticide is that the leaching concentration is underestimated systematically when the uncertainties are rejected.