Assessing the risk of Plant Protection Products for the Aquatic Environment

Synopsis

There is currently an initiative to drive forward transitions in predictions of how the environment and its functioning will respond to chemical exposure, with a particular focus in the UK following the National Environment Research Council’s call for proposals entitled ‘Emerging Risks of Chemicals in the Environment’. The underpinning premise of this call was to find ways to make the ecological relevance of methodologies and sustainability of ecosystems more central to risk assessment and monitoring programmes. It sought to better understand the relative importance of chemical stressors and other stressors, and also to improve the characterisation of the impacts of stressors on ecosystem services by developing more holistic, relevant and cost-effective approaches.

The relevance of the approaches used for risk assessment is a continuing regulatory, policy and industry challenge, not least in the aquatic environment, even though this compartment has been subject to the longest and most intensive study. Various methodologies are currently employed to assess risk and monitor consequences, from intensive national surveys of biota (e.g. under the European Water Framework Directive), through expensive water sampling and chemical analysis programmes (e.g. the UK Water Industry Research Chemicals Investigation Programmes), to complex modelling strategies (e.g. the Forum for the Co-ordination of Pesticide Fate Models and their Use [FOCUS]) and trials to simulate risk to whole aquatic ecosystems (e.g. European Food Safety Authority guidance on Higher Tier Ecotoxicological hazard assessments)

Attendees

This workshop is an opportunity to hear about some of the problems encountered and solutions proposed by those working in the field of aquatic risk assessment. One such solution is currently under development by Fera Science Ltd and the Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP): the Innovate UK funded E-Flows Mesocosm - the first fully flow-through field scale mesocosm for higher tier risk assessments. Linking subjects include passive chemical monitoring techniques, refinements in fate modelling approaches and genetic taxonomy methodologies.

The format for the day will be a series of presentations from industry, academia, government and consultancy, followed by lunch, a tour of the E-Flows mesocosm facility and a workshop to collect ideas from attendees.

Programme

Day 1 - 5th July 2018

Venue and Contact

Fees

Booking Process/Deadlines

CPD Info

SCI Members attending this meeting are able to claim CPD points.

Additional Info

Confirmed Speakers

The E-Flows Mesocosm - First fully flow-through field scale Mesocosm Facility
Dr Rachel Benstead, Fera Science Ltd

eDNA as a method for monitoring environmental change
Dr Neil Boonham, University of Newcastle

Passive sampling - an alternative approach for monitoring plant protection products and other chemicals in the aquatic environment
Prof Gary Fones, University of Portsmouth

An industry viewpoint on the use and interpretation of mesocosm studies
Dr Dan Pickford, Syngenta