Farmers, gardeners and groundskeepers urged to cut back on pest poison use in Laois

Pesticides have not been found in the public drinking water supplies in Co Laois to excess levels in 2019 and 2020 but Irish Water is urging domestic gardeners, farmers, grounds keepers and other users of pesticide products to consider the environment and whether pesticide use is necessary in the first instance.

Irish Waters says MCPA is an active substance present in many commonly used herbicide products used to control the growth of thistles, docks and rushes and remains the most commonly detected pesticide in Ireland. However, Irish Waters says that it often ends up in drinking water supplies.

Irish Water is asking users of any herbicide or pesticide products in Co Laois to consider the vulnerability of the water supplies to pesticide contamination and the importance of these supplies to the local homes and businesses in the community.

Andrew Boylan, Irish Water’s Regional Drinking Water Compliance Specialist said: “In Co Laois, there have been no exceedances for pesticides in the past two years which is good news. 

“While our consultation with the HSE has concluded that the levels of pesticides that are being detected in drinking water supplies across the country do not represent a threat to public health, it is however undesirable and therefore imperative that users of pesticides are mindful of best practice when using herbicides or pesticides and seek out alternatives,” he said.

In a statement Irish Water said that working organisations involved in the National Pesticides and Drinking Water Action Group (NPDWAG), it is asking the farming community, greens keepers, grounds keepers, and domestic users, to consider in each case whether they need to use pesticides at all.

It says that minimising pesticides protects water quality and has wider environmental benefits. For example, it says leaving areas unsprayed can help native flowering plant species to grow and support a range of insects including bees and other vital pollinators.

The utility says that one third of Ireland’s bee species are threatened with extinction and by helping the bee population survive and thrive we are also helping to protect our precious water sources. 

Where pesticide use is considered necessary, Irish Water says the National Pesticides and Drinking Water Action Group is working with the community to ensure that best practice measures to protect drinking water sources and biodiversity are always followed.

Irish Water adds that farmers and other landholders dealing with the challenge of tackling rushes should note that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has developed new guidance on the sustainable management of rushes. It says the new approach is based on the concepts of containment or suppression, and aims to minimise the use of pesticides.

More information on this can be obtained from your local farm advisor or on www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/ sud/waterprotection

Irish water says the efforts to reduce the incidence and level of these detections are being coordinated by the National Pesticides and Drinking Water Action Group which is chaired by the Department of Agriculture.

All of the key stakeholders are represented in this group and include other Government departments and agencies; local authorities; industry representative bodies; farming organisations; water sector organisations; and amenity sector organisations. 

Adding to this, Dr Aidan Moody, DAFM and Chair of NPDWAG commented: “The continued engagement of all stakeholders, working in partnership, is needed to tackle this issue. Users of pesticides should always consider alternatives in the first instance and if pesticides are essential make sure that they are aware of the best practice measures that should be followed to protect water quality.”

Recent drinking water monitoring results for Ireland show that a number of active substances contained in herbicide products used in agriculture, amenity and gardens, such as 2,4-D, fluroxypyr, glyphosate, MCPA, mecoprop and triclopyr, are being regularly detected.

If pesticides have to be used, Irish Water outlined the basic steps to reduce risks to drinking water sources and the aquatic environment are:

• Choose the right pesticide product (note that products containing MCPA are NOT approved for use in weed-wipers.)
• Read and follow the product label
• Determine the right amount to purchase and use
• Don’t use pesticides if rain is forecast in the next 48 hours
• Make sure you are aware of the location of all nearby water courses
• Comply with any buffer zone specified on the product label to protect the aquatic environment. Mark out the specified buffer zone from the edge of the river or lake or other water course and drainage ditches
• Avoid spills, stay well back from open drains and rinse empty containers 3 times into the sprayer.
• Store and dispose of pesticides and their containers properly.
• Never fill a sprayer directly from a water course or carry out mixing, loading or other handling operations beside a water course

Irish Water says the term ‘pesticides’ includes a wide range of synthetic chemicals used for the control of unwanted pests (commonly weeds and insects). It says the term pesticides includes herbicides used to prevent, destroy, or controls plant growth. While the amount of public water schemes with elevated levels of pesticides above the allowed standard is very small in Ireland, Irish Water says there is increasing evidence of pesticides in water sources as a result of run-off from weed control products on hard surfaces, gardening, agriculture or forestry.

The detection of an individual pesticide at levels above the allowed value tells us that there may have been careless or excessive use of a product in the drinking water catchment.

Further guidance:

A video on the best practice use and application of products containing MCPA can be viewed on Irish Water’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/xQqtZ7jifUs
Information leaflets on pesticide use are also available to download from the Teagasc website at teagasc.ie/environment/water- quality/assap-farming-for- water-quality/improving-my- water-quality/protecting- drinking-water-from- pesticides/
A guide providing 10 easy steps towards responsible pesticide use in public and amenity and garden areas is available at pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/ pesticides/content/sud/ ResponsiblePesticideUsePublicA menityGardenAreas200217.pdf