Harmonised Risk Indicator-1 (HRI-1), a key tool for monitoring progress in reducing pesticide risks under the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive, has been subject to scrutiny for its limitations. Specifically, it has been argued that the indicator is biased towards substances used in high quantities and that the distribution of hazard weights is insufficient and unjustified. To address these concerns, the JRC was tasked with analysing two elements: first, the feasibility of normalising pesticide sales data using substance application rates; and second, the feasibility of strengthening hazard consideration using data from the Chemical Classification and Labelling framework. Our results show that normalisation effectively corrects the bias towards high-volume substances, highlighting the contributions of low-volume substances to pesticide risk. Furthermore, the enhanced hazard consideration approach provides a transparent and data-driven method for substance hazard weighting, although it reveals a bias towards human health hazards, limiting the indicator's scope. To capture environmental hazards, alternative data sources must be explored to complement the existing framework. Notably, our analysis demonstrates that both refinements are compatible with the HRI-1, covering all relevant substances, and can be implemented without requiring additional data collection, thereby imposing no extra burden on national authorities. In addition, the robustness of the proposed refinements was examined through an assessment of uncertainty and sensitivity carried out by the JRC Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards (JRC COIN). By addressing the limitations of the HRI-1, this study provides a pathway towards a more comprehensive and robust indicator for monitoring pesticide risk reduction.
OLVEDY Michael;
LAGÜERA GONZÁLEZ Jaime;
RAVANOS Panagiotis;
SMALLENBROEK Oscar;
BOPP Stephanie;
2026-08-14
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC147676
978-92-68-42481-0 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 40814,
OP KJ-01-26-342-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC147676,
10.2760/4834700 (online),
| Name | Country | City | Type |
|---|
This document is only visible at the Commission level.
You are not authorized to publish or distribute it outside the European Commission.
This is a public document. You can share this publication.
Datasets
| ID | Title | Public URL |
|---|
Dataset collections
| ID | Acronym | Title | Public URL |
|---|
Scripts / source codes
| Description | Public URL |
|---|
Additional supporting files
| File name | Description | File type |
|---|