Primož Bukovec
Title, name and surname
Primož Bukovec
Full title
B. Sc.
Department (abbreviation)
Department of Official Validation and Evaluation (OUPO)
Workplace
Authorised Environmental Risk Evaluator for Pesticides, Head of department from 2011
Group
Researchers
Phone
03 71 21 640, GSM: 041 783 091
Email
Primoz.Bukovec@ihps.si
Field of work:
Ecology, Soil Science, Registration of PPP, Ground Water Protection
Work experience:
1997 – 2004: Researcher in the field of ecology, soil science and irrigation
2000 – : Researcher in the field of ecology, soil science, Environmental Risk Assessor for registration of PPP on EU and on national level.
Short CV:
The beginnings of work at IHPS, where I worked as a researcher for ecology and pedology, and in the field of irrigation of agricultural crops, represented a good foundation for my current work, where I participate under the authority of the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection as an authorized evaluator of the fate and behaviour of PPP in the environment. I deal with the distribution and behavior of a plant protection product and its degradation products in the environment. It must be taken into account that the environmental behaviour of a plant protection product is subject to a variety of biological and chemical degradation processes. In principle, plant protection products and their degradation products may behave very differently: they can seep away, be washed away, be displaced while being degraded or be persistent, i.e. bind to soil components and remain in the soil or in sediments of water bodies for a longer period of time. In the course of the evaluation of a plant protection product, it is estimated how long a plant protection product remains in the environment, which degradation products are formed and which concentrations of the plant protection product and its degradation products are to be expected in the soil, surface water, groundwater or aquatic sediments as well as in the air when used properly.
To assess environmental fate, “half-lives” and other characteristic properties of a pesticide and its degradation products are determined in standardized laboratory and field tests. The half-life (DT50) refers to the period of time in which the concentration of a pesticide in the environment has decreased to half of its original concentration. These degradation times are one of the basic parameters for calculating environmental concentrations and are used to estimate whether a substance is readily degradable or persistent.
An important aspect of the evaluation is the assessment of the leaching potential, i.e. the transport of pesticides from the soil to the groundwater. Unfavourable active ingredient properties (high water solubility, low binding to the soil body, long half-life), in combination with high precipitation and permeable soil types, can lead to undesirable inputs into groundwater.
Ultimately, the main responsibility of my work is to provide predicted concentrations of the evaluated pesticide and its degradation products in various environmental compartments. These concentration values then in turn serve as a basis for other disciplines to make their assessments.
The work is primarily focused only on the EU level and only to a lesser extent on the national level.
At the EU level, we prepare expert risk assessments within the framework of zonal registrations of PPP, and we prepare so-called RAR assessments for individual active substances (Renewal Assessment Report). We also regularly cooperate with the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).
Membership:
EFSA – Approved Expert for Environmental Fate and Behaviour of pesticides
Povezava Cobiss
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Ecology, Soil Science, Registration of PPP, Ground Water Protection
1997 – 2004: Researcher in the field of ecology, soil science and irrigation
2000 – : Researcher in the field of ecology, soil science, Environmental Risk Assessor for registration of PPP on EU and on national level.
The beginnings of work at IHPS, where I worked as a researcher for ecology and pedology, and in the field of irrigation of agricultural crops, represented a good foundation for my current work, where I participate under the authority of the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection as an authorized evaluator of the fate and behaviour of PPP in the environment. I deal with the distribution and behavior of a plant protection product and its degradation products in the environment. It must be taken into account that the environmental behaviour of a plant protection product is subject to a variety of biological and chemical degradation processes. In principle, plant protection products and their degradation products may behave very differently: they can seep away, be washed away, be displaced while being degraded or be persistent, i.e. bind to soil components and remain in the soil or in sediments of water bodies for a longer period of time. In the course of the evaluation of a plant protection product, it is estimated how long a plant protection product remains in the environment, which degradation products are formed and which concentrations of the plant protection product and its degradation products are to be expected in the soil, surface water, groundwater or aquatic sediments as well as in the air when used properly.
To assess environmental fate, “half-lives” and other characteristic properties of a pesticide and its degradation products are determined in standardized laboratory and field tests. The half-life (DT50) refers to the period of time in which the concentration of a pesticide in the environment has decreased to half of its original concentration. These degradation times are one of the basic parameters for calculating environmental concentrations and are used to estimate whether a substance is readily degradable or persistent.
An important aspect of the evaluation is the assessment of the leaching potential, i.e. the transport of pesticides from the soil to the groundwater. Unfavourable active ingredient properties (high water solubility, low binding to the soil body, long half-life), in combination with high precipitation and permeable soil types, can lead to undesirable inputs into groundwater.
Ultimately, the main responsibility of my work is to provide predicted concentrations of the evaluated pesticide and its degradation products in various environmental compartments. These concentration values then in turn serve as a basis for other disciplines to make their assessments.
The work is primarily focused only on the EU level and only to a lesser extent on the national level.
At the EU level, we prepare expert risk assessments within the framework of zonal registrations of PPP, and we prepare so-called RAR assessments for individual active substances (Renewal Assessment Report). We also regularly cooperate with the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).
EFSA – Approved Expert for Environmental Fate and Behaviour of pesticides