Total Applied Toxicity reveals 15 years of change in pesticide pressure across France

A new study investigating temporal and spatial trends in pesticide pressure in France over 15 years (2008 to 2022) using the Total Applied Toxicity (TAT) highlights the importance of TAT for evaluating pesticide pressure and identifying areas for mitigation strategies, while also noting the impact of recent regulatory actions.

The study

In this study, the authors assess changes in pesticide use in France between 2008 and 2022. France is the second-largest user of pesticides in Europe. They characterize the spatial and temporal trends in pesticide use at the French level using the Total Applied Toxicity (TAT) index. Unlike previous indices used to describe pesticide use in France (i.e., NODU and HRI-1), it combines pesticide mass with toxicity data across eight species groups. So far, this index has only been used in two other countries: the US and Germany. Unlike those, the accuracy of pesticide data in France makes it possible to study spatial trends in pesticide use.

The results

The results show that temporal trends in pesticide pressure differ across species groups, while spatial trends remain similar between groups. Pesticide pressure has decreased for four species groups: terrestrial vertebrates, pollinators, soil organisms, and aquatic plants. It has increased for aquatic invertebrates, and remained stable for fish, terrestrial arthropods, and terrestrial plants (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Temporal trends of total applied toxicity targeting various species groups. The figure includes only active ingredients that represent 10% of the total applied toxicity (TAT) for at least one year for each species.

The higher TAT pressure in northern and western France is linked to the cultivation of sugar beets, rapeseed, vegetables, and vineyards (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Spatial variation of total applied toxicity in France for different species groups. A gradient from blue to red indicates counties from the lowest to the highest total applied toxicity (TAT).

The TAT provides an index to assess the pressure pesticides exert. It also accounts for their toxicity, which varies greatly between species. The index helps identify the most toxic compounds (e.g., pyrethroids for fish) and pinpoint areas that require biodiversity restoration policies, such as northern France. The study also highlights that recent bans, such as those on diquat and neonicotinoids, have significantly reduced the pressure exerted by pesticides on several groups of organisms.

However, this reduction in pressure does not automatically mean a lower impact of pesticides on these groups. Further studies linking this index with biodiversity data to confirm the relationship are required.

The paper

The paper “Temporal trends in pesticide pressure differ among non-target species groups but show spatially consistent patterns across France” by Thomas Perrot, Jakob Wolfram, Ralf Schulz and Colin Fontaine was published on 29 August 2025, in the Volume 497, Issue 139695 of Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Perrot, T., Wolfram, J., Schulz, R., & Fontaine, C. (2025). Temporal trends in pesticide pressure differ among non-target species groups but show spatially consistent patterns across France. Journal of Hazardous Materials, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.139695