A predictive model for the concentration of active substances released as dust and the total dust released from treated seeds

The propensity of dust released from treated seeds of maize, wheat, oilseed rape, barley and sunflower has been extensively studied in Europe and is regulated in France for maize. Thus, the seed industry has developed a quality assurance system for treated seeds, in particular with the European Seed Treatment Assurance (ESTA) scheme. This study, relatively complex due to multi-factor effects, is an important first step in understanding the composition of dust and provides data of the typology and the nature of the dust elements from seeds. A total of 649 samples were analysed with the Heubach method and by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A strong relationship was determined between the total active substances in the dust and the Heubach value: coefficients of determination ranged from (0.60 to 0.95). Therefore the Heubach method provided reliable data for dust concentration. A model could predict the quantity of active substances released based on the quantity of active substances applied on seeds and Heubach dust value.