Text by Martin Benny Pedersen and photos by Ronja Scherfig 

In Denmark, pesticide residues were detected in more than half of the drinking water wells in 2024, approximately half of the country's area is sprayed each year, and both pesticide consumption and sales have increased since 2014. This is a problem, because, although pesticides protect crops against weeds, insects and fungi, they also cause a loss of biodiversity, pollute soil, air and water, and thus threaten both ecosystems and public health.   

This was the theme of the conference 'Reducing Pesticides, Eliminating PFAS Pesticides, Protecting Water: Denmark Leads the EU Presidency', which was held on 30 October in 'Proviantsalen' at Christiansborg Palace. 

The focus here was on questions such as: What does the Danish regulation of pesticides look like, and what initiatives has the Danish EU presidency launched to deal with PFAS pesticides that break down to trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)? What consequences do pesticides have for public health and biodiversity? What can pesticide reduction and protection of the aquatic environment look like in practice? And what sustainable alternatives to pesticides and interventions can be pursued? 

The conference was organised in collaboration with Pesticide Action Network Europe and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation. The moderators were Mikael Skou Andersen, professor at the Institute for Environmental Science at Aarhus University, and Nicoline Noe, planetary journalist.

Summary and Highlights from the Conference 

The conference was opened by host and MP Claus Jørgensen, environmental spokesperson for SF (Green Left). 

After that Christian Ege Jørgensen,Senior Consultant in Green Transition Denmark, welcomed the participants with a call for more organic farming and a simultaneous improvement of conventional farming in terms ofreducing the use of pesticides, for example through the use of integrated pest management (IPM).

EU Action Against PFAS 

Klaus Berend, Director for Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation in the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission, participated via video link.

He spoke about the EU's pesticide regulation, the Commission's work with TFA, and what the Commission plans to do going forward in relation to PFAS active substances in pesticides and the work with the Sustainable Use Directive (SUD). Important points included, among others, that TFA can also be found in areas where pesticides are not used, but also comes from sewage, fertiliser, and rainwater.The Directorate-General for Environment has entered into an agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish relevant PFAS pesticides in drinking water, and allow EU member states to change or revoke the approval of pesticides at any time, as Denmark has just done. 

"The future of plant protection in Europe must be much more biobased" – Klaus Berend from the European Commission

Lisbeth Knudsen, Professor in Experimental Toxicology at the Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen, then gave a presentation on the effect of pesticides on public health. She told that besides pesticides in food, soil and water, glyphosates have been found in hares,and that pesticide residuesare increasingly found in active drinking water wells, and that TFA is also increasingly found in groundwater in Denmark.

Lisbeth Knudsen expressed, moreover, especially concern about the effect of pesticides on human reproduction , since in several studies by examinationof different pesticides, there has been found effects on this. Likewise,  she told about other studies that indicates associations between exposure to chemicals, including pesticides, with ADHD and autism,cancer and hormonal disorders. In conclusion, Lisbeth encouraged us to work better together by moving away from the silo thinking that, according to her,  can be found at both universities and in ministries .

What Does the Legislation Say? 

Head of Department in the Danish Ministry of Environment and Gender Equality Lea Frimann Hansen then spoke about Danish and European pesticide regulation. In addition to the recent Danish ban on 33 pesticides, she highlighted that during the Danish EU presidency an agreement has been reached to include TFA – a substance that has been found to a large extent in Danish groundwater wells – in the EU's updated Water Framework Directive as a pollutant that must be monitored in surface water. In relation to the ban on the 33 pesticides, she expects that the pesticide load indicator – a measure of the potential load on health, nature and groundwater from pesticides – will decrease in 2026.

Subsequently,  Angeliki Lyssimachou, Head of Science and Policy, in the co-organiser Pesticide Action Network Europe , held a presentation in which she noted that pesticide regulation in Europe is generally good, but that there are loopholes in the legislation.She labeled TFA a global threat and toldabout the organisation's own studies, including  that  TFA is found in surface, groundwater, tap and bottled water- much to the surprise of the participants -  increasing amounts of TFA have been detected in wine (sometimes 100 times higher than in water)– and that this coincides with the use of  PFAS-pesticidesin the late '90s .She also called for a halt to the export and import of EU-banned pesticides, because even after dangerous pesticides have been banned in Europe, the EU still allows their production for export to third countries with weaker protection legislation. Finally, she warned that regulatory simplification must not lead to deregulation.

Groundwater Condition 

Dorte Skræm, Head of Drinking Water at DANVA (Danish Water and Wastewater Association), focused on the state of groundwater in Denmark and the Danish drinking water supply, which is 99,9 percent groundwater-based.  

She stressed the need for immediate action, otherwise we will face even greater challenges and costs. Dorte also presented a number of mapping of pesticides in Denmark and hotspots for TFA in Europe. The participants could see, among other things, that the limit values ​​for pesticides are exceeded across Denmark, and that TFA is found in many places in Europe - including in Denmark. Here, the limit values ​​for TFA are not exceeded, but according to Dorte, that picture will change, as the limit values ​​are continuously adjusted downwards as more knowledge becomes available.

After Dorte's presentation, Rune Gjengedal, Manager at Hverringe Estate– a so-called 'IPM innovation farm'  - told about the farm's work with IPM, i.e. integrated pest management , which is a way, in which onecan reduce the use of pesticides within conventional agriculture . He talked about IPM tools, which include crop rotation, cultivation techniques, precision spraying as well as education and training.

In the last presentation, Beate Strandberg, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Ecoscience at Aarhus University,presented the effects of pesticides on biodiversity . Here,the message was clear: Pesticides affect the reproductive ability of plants and insects .

She reported that glyphosate reduces the number of flowers and delays flowering, and that more species flower earlier and longer at higher intensity in organic agriculture – where pesticides are not used. She also presented a German study that investigated pesticide exposure in insects in German Natura 2000 areas, where an average of 16,7 pesticides were found per sample. This means that pesticides are being spread to areas that are not agricultural land. Beate Strandberg ended her presentation with an appeal for ecological intensification. 

The conference concluded with a panel discussion on alternatives to plant protection. The following participated: 

Lea Frimann Hansen, Head of Department in the Danish Ministry of Environment and Gender Equality, Angeliki Lyssimachou, Head of Science and Policy in Pesticide Action Network Europe, Rikke Lundsgaard, Senior Agricultural Policy Advisor in the Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Bo Lindhardt, Director of Water, IT & Automation at Novafos, Sybille Kyed, Head of Agriculture and Food Policy in Organic Denmark, and Rune Havgaard Sørensen, Head of Secretariat in the Danish Beekeepers Association.

Watch the panel discussion here..

(Re)view the recorded presentations below as well as PowerPoints in PDF format to the right on the page:

• Claus Jørgensen, environmental spokesperson, SF (Green Left), and Christian Ege Jørgensen, Senior Consultant, Green Transition Denmark: See presentation
• Klaus Berend, Director for Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), European Commission: See presentation
• Lisbeth E. Knudsen, Professor in Experimental Toxicology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen: See presentation
• Lea Frimann Hansen, Head of Department, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Gender Equality: See presentation
• Angeliki Lyssimachou, Head of Science and Policy, Pesticide Action Network Europe: See presentation
• Dorte Skræm, Head of Drinking Water, DANVA (the Danish Water and Wastewater Association): See presentation
• Rune Gjengedal, Manager, Hverringe Estate – practicing IPM (integrated pest management): See presentation
• Beate Strandberg, Senior Researcher, Institute for Ecoscience – Biodiversity, Aarhus University: See presentation

The conference program can be seen here: Conference: Pesticides, PFAS and protection of the aquatic environment − Denmark at the forefront of the EU presidency 2025

The conference was organised by: 

Green Transition Denmark, Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation. 

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