Evaluation of Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) for Insecticides Registered for Use on Citrus in Korea

An Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) evaluation was conducted for insecticides recently registered for use on citrus. The EIQ is a method used to calculate the environmental impact of pesticides, developed by Kovach et al.(1992) to provide pesticide applicators with pre-assessed risk values regarding the environmental and health impacts of the pesticides they use. This system helps applicators make informed decisions based on better information when selecting pesticides. As of December 2024, 82 active ingredients and 240 insecticide products were registered. The analysis revealed average scores of 63.5 for farm workers, 21.4 for consumers, and 80.6 for ecological impact. Among the active ingredients, 44, 25, and 39 exceeded these respective averages. Based on the EIQ evaluation, the active ingredients were categorized as follows: “Unlikely to be Hazardous” (2 ingredients, 2.4%), “Slightly Hazardous” (26 ingredients, 31.7%), “Moderately Hazardous” (45 ingredients, 54.9%), “Highly Hazardous” (5 ingredients, 6.1%), and “Extremely Hazardous” (4 ingredients, 4.9%). In the EIQ field use rating for the 242 products, 171 (71.0%) were rated as “Very Low,” 47 (19.4%) as “Low,” 17 (7.0%) as “Moderate,” 5 (2.1%) as “High,” and 1 (0.4%) as “Very High,” with 236 products (97.5%) overall deemed safe. However, when re-evaluated based on the maximum annual application frequency, 16 products (6.6%) were classified as “High” and 20 products (8.3%) as “Very High,” indicating that efforts should be made to reduce the application frequency for these 36 products.