PARENT SESSION
36 - Effects of Chemical Stress on Functional Endpoints
2:10 PM to 5:20 PM, Tuesday, 14 May 2002
Session Chair: Roembke, Joerg , ¹, Eason, Charles ², ^{1 2} .
Lehar A

(36-04) Recommendations of the SETAC EPFES Workshop on The Effects of Plant Protection Products on Functional Endpoints in Soil.

Wiles, John^*,1, Roembke, Joerg², Scott-Fordsmand, Janeck³, Heimbach, Fred⁴, Hoy, Simon⁵, Kula, Christine⁶, Sousa, Paulo⁷, Stephenson, Gladys⁸, Weeks, Jason⁹, ¹ DuPont (U.K.) Limited, Stevenage, United Kingdom² ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Floersheim, Germany³ Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Silkeborg, Denmark⁴ Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany⁵ Pesticides Safety Directorate, York, United Kingdom⁶ Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land und Forstwirtschaft, Braunschweig, Germany⁷ Depto de Zoologia, Coimbra, Portugal⁸ University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada⁹ National Centre for Environmental Toxicology, Medmenham, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT- This paper will report recommendations of the SETAC EPFES Workshop on The Effects of Plant Protection Products on Functional Endpoints in Soil, held in Lisbon in April 2002. The focus of the workshop is based around the current European registration scheme for Plant Protection Products under Directive 91/414/EEC, however, the discussions and issues are also pertinent to other risk assessment procedures. EU Directive 91/414/EEC (and its amendment 96/12/EC), indicates that testing the effects of plant protection products (PPPs) on soil non-target macro-organisms (that contribute to the breakdown of dead plant and animal organic matter) can be required under certain circumstances (under Point 10.6.2, Annex 3 of the Directive). Until now, however, there has been no clear guidance on what type of tests should be used and how such tests should be performed. The presentation will briefly summarise EPFES workshop discussions regarding; i) compilation of state-of-the-art knowledge concerning the effects of PPPs on terrestrial functional endpoints (with special consideration of recent technical experience with the litterbag method); ii) recommendations for study design and method improvements; iii) discussion of data assessment (i.e. statistics, data interpretation, risk assessment); iv) identification of research needs; and v) discussion of the use of such methods for soil quality assessment (i.e. contaminated land). The final product of the workshop will be the publication of a guidance document, in the form of a SETAC-Europe brochure. It is envisaged that this guidance will be of a form that it is suitable for incorporation into regulatory guidelines, as has been the case for previous SETAC workshops (e.g. HARAP, ESCORT II & I etc.).

Key words: Soil organic matter , Pesticides, Litterbags, decomposition in soil