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{{Paper
|id=Vol-1152/paper41
|storemode=property
|title=Application of Relational Database in Listing Pesticides Used In Greece According to their Hazards In Human Health and the Environment
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper41.pdf
|volume=Vol-1152
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/VassiliadouMK11
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==Application of Relational Database in Listing Pesticides Used In Greece According to their Hazards In Human Health and the Environment==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper41.pdf
Application of Relational Database in Listing Pesticides
used in Greece according to their Hazards in Human
Health and the Environment
Sophia Vassiliadou, Dimosthenis Mpoutakidis, Michail Karikas
Department of Agricultural Development and Agribusiness Management, Lab of Computer
and Multimedia, Alexander Technology Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece, e-mail:
vasiliadou_sofia@farm.teithe.gr, dboutak@farm.teithe.gr
Abstract. Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Recent EU
legislation has been approved banning the use of highly toxic pesticides and
measures were agreed to improve the general safety of pesticides across all EU
member states including Greece. In addition the problem of illegal and usually
hazardous pesticides has to be faced. Nevertheless end-users, farmers and
consumers should be informed of the hazards for public health and
environmental risks. Information technology, the Internet and wireless
technologies are gradually adopted by farmers. This paper presents the
development of a database listing pesticides used in Greece highlighting the
following factors: the legitimacy of the pesticide registration, the dangers of
the pesticide to human’s health and finally the dangers of the pesticide on the
environment.
Keywords: Relational databases, pesticides, environmental hazards, health
hazards.
1 Introduction
The rapid development and global spread of modern Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) allows the developing world to leapfrog the
infrastructural constraints to access and utilize information vital to agricultural
research and development (Gelb et al., 2004, Santana et al., 2007, McLaren et al.,
2009).
Information concerning the use and hazards of pesticide is crucial in pest
management of crops in order to achieve a high quality agricultural production and
ensure both farmers and public health as well as minimize environmental risk. The
use of Pesticides has increased 50-fold since 1950 and currently there are thousands
of synthetic pesticide products made up of more than 1000 different chemicals and
combinations thereof (Miller, 2002). The growing awareness of the risks related to
the intensive use of pesticides has led to a more crucial attitude by the society
towards agriculture. At the same time, there is a change in consumer concerns that
had put more weight on issues such as environmental friendliness in agricultural
production and food safety (Saba and Messina, 2003).
________________________________
Copyright ©by the paper’s authors. Copying permitted only for private and academic purposes.
In: M. Salampasis, A. Matopoulos (eds.): Proceedings of the International Conference on Information
and Communication Technologies
for Sustainable Agri-production and Environment (HAICTA 2011), Skiathos, 8-11 September, 2011.
463
Therefore pesticides use raises a number of environmental concerns. It is
estimated that a huge amount of sprayed insecticides and herbicides reach a
destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and
soil (Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, 2010).
In Europe, recent EU legislation has been approved banning the use of highly
toxic pesticides including those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to
reproduction, those that are endocrine-disrupting, and those that are persistent,
bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative
(vPvB). Measures were approved to improve the general safety of pesticides across
all EU member states (Regulation (EC) 1107/2009). New ways for pest control are
requested to reduce human and environmental exposure to hazardous chemicals, and
potentially lower overall costs of pesticide application material and labor.
Nowadays, among other issues, Information Management is becoming an
increasingly challenging task for farmers (Gelb et al, 2004), especially in terms of the
amount of data, the complexity of processes in precision farming, the demanding
function of data acquisition, the choice of information technology, the use of Internet
or other wireless technologies such as mobile phones (Steinberger et al, 2009). Also
another challenging factor is the format of data, which can be accessed by the
involved stakeholders, at anytime without knotty requirements, in user-friendly and
comprehensible forms.
This paper presents the development of a Database platform regarding pesticides
used in Greece, which aims to highlight the following factors: the legitimacy of the
pesticide registration, the hazards of pesticide, and the dangers of the pesticide to
human’s health and finally the dangers of the pesticide on the environment and
ecosystem.
2 Materials and Methodology
2.1 Pesticides
During the past few years, Greece, like most other countries, has faced the
problem of counterfeit/ illegal Plant Protection Products (PPPs) or, as they are often
called, pesticides. Pesticides are used to protect crops before and after harvest from
infestation by pests and plant diseases.
In most countries, pesticides must be approved for sale and use by a government
agency. The problem of illegal pesticide use is not only financial (Pethig, 2004) but it
also has to deal with issues of insufficient information on the topic of risks placed on
society and the environment from pesticides use. Findings have indicated that
pesticides have effects in human health (Sorensen et.al., 2003, Gilden et al., 2010)
not only directly but as residuals on agricultural products. Accurate analysis of
pesticides presence in each step of the food chain is necessary because of their
potential toxicity and the presence of amplified toxic effects due to synergic
interactions. In the same way it is necessary to evaluate the environmental effects of
the whole pesticides cycle, from industrial production until final disposal of used
containers and residuals (Donati et al., 1993). Furthermore, pesticides are held
464
responsible for contributing to the loss in biodiversity and the deterioration of natural
habitats (Pauli et al., 1999).
Legislation at the European community level dates back to 1976 when Council
directive 76/895/EEC specified maximum levels for pesticide residues for 43 active
substances (AS). The EU has a new legislative framework on Maximum Residue
Levels (MRLs) of pesticides in Food. Furthermore Integrated Pest Management
(IPM) programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests
and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with
available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most
economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property and the
environment.
There is a lack of information regarding the pesticide registration especially for
the end-users, and the risks at stake. There has been none endeavor of assembling an
electronic form for the Greek legislation regarding pesticides and the consequences
of illegal use and trading of these products for farmers’ and consumers’ health, crops
and environment.
2.2 Database management systems
The take-up of ICT by professionals of agriculture, farmers or agribusinesses is
crucial to the raising of their business productivity potential and future growth
prospects, but also to the achievement of sustainable agriculture. The complexity of
agricultural processes has as an outcome a cumbersome and error-prone data
acquisition and manipulation. Therefore data loss is frequent (Hunt et al., 2001).
Modern database technology has the potential to solve these issues. Difficulties of
data management refer to problems of data entry, quality control and changing
requirements for storage and output variables (Hunt et al., 2001), searching and
editing necessities.
Database management systems (DBMS) are increasingly used to develop
computer-based information systems. A DBMS is a computer program (or more
typically, a suite of them) designed to manage a database (a large set of structured
data), and run operations on the data requested by numerous clients. Advantages that
are generally associated to a database are reduced redundancy, the integration of data
and integrity, meaning that in a database, data elements will appear just once and
reduced redundancy increases the likelihood of data integrity.
Relational database management systems (RDBMS) use a natural tabular structure
to store data and provide design guidelines for choosing good structures. This natural
structure results in an interface that makes relational systems easy to use when
compared to other database systems. This makes RDBMS attractive to those users
who are increasingly taking an active part in system development (Date, 2000).
The advantages of database management consist of the use of standard file
formats. The Microsoft Access format has become popular, since all of a database's
tables and indexes can be contained in a single file.
MS Access is the Microsoft database-management program, part of the Microsoft
Office suite that is used to maintain databases - collections of data arranged
according to a fixed structure. Its structure makes the information easy to select, sort,
465
display, and print in a variety of formats. With Access, one can create and maintain
as many databases as they need, or even share them with other people over a local
area network or the Internet. Access databases are made up of objects.
3 Results
Associated data to different types of pesticide, (fungicides, insecticides,
herbicides, miticides) and risks for public health and environment (R-phrases, S-
phrases) are stored in a database managed by MS Access.
The database consists of several tables and comprises properly relationships
between tables. The updating of the database is trouble-free when it comes to delete
or add one or several pesticides. The design of the database ensures that no large
modifications in its structure are needed for updating purposes.
By definition the user interface is the uppermost layer in the system, thus it resides
in the external level of a database system and its prime concern is to place the entire
functionality of the database system at the disposal of users. To be of real practical
value, a user interface for a database must serve a wide variety of users with different
training, knowledge, and background. The aim was to achieve a simple interface that
is comprehensible to every user.
The user interface presents the following capabilities for its users:
· Users can scroll through the selected records.
· Users can filter the records to constrain which records are selected from
those available.
· Users can delete, add and print records
· Users can read the Minister decisions of the release of each pesticide from
the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food in a pdf format, which
includes all the information for the pesticide and the right usage in the
framework of plant protection.
The database management component (in Greek) is presented (Fig. 1) in a
column form. It includes all the basic elements that introduce the identity of each
pesticide, like the name, the type, the composition, the category, the manufacturing
company, the approval release, the launch and expiration date, the indication of each
pesticide and the risks for public health and the ecosystem.
S-phrases (short for Safety Phrases) are defined in Annex IV of EUs Directive
67/548/EEC, “Safety advice concerning dangerous substances and preparations”
while R-phrases (short for Risk Phrases) are defined in Annex III of European Union
Directive 67/548/EEC, “Nature of special risks attributed to dangerous substances
and preparations”(Council Directive 67/548/EEC). The list was consolidated and
republished in Directive 2001/59/EC, where translations into other EU languages
may be found.
S-phrases and R- Phrases are presented in the type of sub forms, in order to
identify the meaning of each representation.
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Fig. 1. Snapshot of the pesticide form
Users can apply the quick find (Fig. 2) in order to view the type of pesticide and
the form (suspension, powder, liquid, solution, etc.). Database users are able to scroll
through the records with the available buttons for “next”, “previous”, “last” and
“first” record buttons.
Fig. 2. The quick find of the form
467
Moreover users can erase records in case a pesticide is no longer available for
usage or insert new records for a new release approval. In addition users can apply
their own selection criteria, depending upon their query on the database, and acquire
the information they search.
The option of printing out the information that is useful is also available, in a
variety of selected pages, all, current and of course the pdf file of the Decision of the
Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
The Ministry decision release is presented as an attachment (Fig.3) which the user
can open to read or even save in a computer folder or any storage media. The user
has also the ability to delete or add a new file in case a new Ministry decision release
is available.
Fig. 3. The Ministry decision release attachment
The Ministry Decision release (Fig. 4) includes all the information for the
pesticide regarding its active substances (AS), the date of licence and the expiry date
of approval along with references for the manufacturing corporation, the packaging
company etc.
The release form also includes information’s concerning the right usage of the
pesticide in the framework of plant protection, human health’s safety and
environmental impacts, by mentioning the S-phrases (Safety Phrases), “Safety
advice concerning dangerous substances and preparations” and R-phrases (Risk
Phrases) “Nature of special risks attributed to dangerous substances and
preparations” that correspond to each pesticide.
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Fig. 4. The Ministry decision release pdf file
4 Conclusions
One of the critical conditions required of the agricultural sector is to ensure that
good governance structures and related policies are in place at all levels (UNEP,
2008). Agricultural governance, lies beyond regional, national or global level, the
whole community is involved stakeholders in their way and that universal sense can
be assisted only from another widespread trend such as ICT (Vassiliadou and
Mpoutakidis, 2011).
The primary aim of the project is to list, inform and educate all groups involved in
pesticide commerce and use, including the final users of the products - farmers. The
issues of focus are: the Greek legislation regarding pesticides and the consequences
of mistreatment of these products for farmers and consumers’ health, crops and
environment. This is presented in a user-friendly and comprehensible format, using a
widespread database application available in most personal computers, since end-
users are not necessarily computer literate.
Regarding the database management system, data ease of use and handling within
management or modeling purposes is a promising fact. Efficient and well-organized
information are vital on the track towards more comprehensive and reliable
assessments. The only drawback on the undertaking usability of this component is
the availably and quality control of data.
Pesticide safety education and pesticide applicator regulation are designed to
protect the public from pesticide misuse, but do not eliminate all misuse. Farmer
training programs and education along with pesticide surveillance and monitoring
programs is an investment for pest control.
469
Furthermore, integrated pest management (IPM), is promoted as a mean of
sustainable agriculture. Reducing the use of pesticides and choosing less toxic
pesticides may reduce risks placed on society and the environment from pesticide
use. In addition it is important to take into account cumulative and synergistic effects
of pesticide in human health and the ecosystem. Therefore it is highly important to
develop novel means of communication and information for the public and the
related stakeholders regarding those issues, including impact assessments, risk
management and related decisions.
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