Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent contaminants that are widely detected in surface waters and are of growing global concern. However, the factors associated with variations in PFAS contamination across space and time at a continental scale remain poorly understood. Here, we combine results from a harmonised pan-European river monitoring study with partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) to identify the key factors associated with PFAS contamination in European rivers. Seven high-priority PFAS were monitored at 280 sites across 93 rivers in 31 European countries, representing the PFAS footprint of approximately 309 million people. At least one PFAS was detected at 93% of monitoring locations. Highest concentrations were observed in parts of southern, southeastern and western Europe and were associated with landfills, wastewater discharges and industrial activity. Higher PFAS concentrations occurred in summer, potentially reflecting dilution-related effects associated with lower flow conditions. PLS-PM revealed that PFAS concentrations were associated with socioeconomic pressures and environmental conditions. The Human Footprint Index showed the strongest association among the socioeconomic variables examined, while electrical conductivity was the environmental variable most strongly associated with PFAS concentrations, possibly reflecting shared transport pathways with wastewater and industrial effluents. An indicative, screening-level assessment against existing regulatory threshold values suggested that PFAS concentrations at 61% of sites are of potential concern. These findings support the use of combined human pressure and hydrochemical indicators to inform more targeted, risk-based monitoring and regulatory prioritisation at large spatial scales.

The EU's Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability aims to incorporate environmental risk of combined exposure, stemming from unintentional chemical mixtures in the environment, into regulatory risk assessments. Within the ENCORE (ENvironmental CO-exposure and Risk Estimation) project, a probabilistic modeling framework was developed for assessing chemical risk to aquatic ecosystems at the watershed level across Europe. The developed probabilistic framework can synthesize multiple sources of information at EU level, as well as uncertainty in both exposure and hazard information. The framework builds upon a chemical exposure model originally used in the EU project SOLUTIONS for large-scale European domains, which is being further developed in ENCORE. More specifically, a workflow was developed for a Bayesian network (BN) model that can update prior probabilities of chemical exposure derived from process-based simulation (predicted exposure) data. Key data sources integrated into the BN included the pan-European publicly available dataset Waterbase Water Quality (WISE-6), from the Water Information System for Europe managed by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Bayesian updating is used to integrate this new evidence (chemical monitoring data) improving accuracy of risk calculation. A pilot study, using a subset of pesticides in Belgium, was selected to develop and test the implementation of this probabilistic approach using BNs. This pilot will serve as a proof-of-concept before this risk modeling approach is scaled up to larger European regions. The goal of this approach is to identify chemicals with high contribution to risk in the aquatic environment, by accounting for spatial exposure patterns in watersheds across large regions of Europe and temporal patterns across months.

Current standard test methods for assessing biodegradation of chemicals are laborious and not suited for high-throughput screening of chemicals because of both the required volume of the test medium and the limited possibility for automation of measurements of biodegradation. A high-throughput method (HTM) should be miniaturized, suitable for automation, and based on generic parameters that can indicate biodegradation of any chemical. The aim of this study was to develop an HTM based on bacterial proliferation (i.e., growth) as an indicator of biodegradation, measured by flow cytometry. Natural bacterial communities were exposed to reference chemicals in 96-well plates for up to 14 days at 19 °C and the results compared with parallel standard biodegradation screening tests for freshwater (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 301F) and seawater (OECD 306). Increased bacterial growth, compared with nonexposed inocula, was used as an indication of biodegradation. Sodium benzoate induced a significant growth response that corresponded to the biodegradation experiments in both freshwater and marine water. Aniline induced a lower frequency of significant growth compared with the frequency of positive biodegradation results, whereas caffeine induced a higher frequency and more rapid growth response compared with biodegradation results. This shows the potential for an HTM for biodegradation testing using bacterial growth.

As part of the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) for the Puducherry coast-a highly urbanized coastal area along India's southeast coast-an extensive assessment of organic pollutants was conducted in the sediments of the Thengaithittu Estuary, one of the major urban confluences in the region. Surface sediment samples were collected during both the dry season (June) and the wet season (September) in 2023 from six stations to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including DDTs. The results indicated that high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs predominated in both seasons, primarily from pyrogenic sources with concentrations ranging from 0.26 to 369.16 ng g-1 dw. Carcinogenic PAHs (C-PAHs) accounted for 51-98 % of the total PAHs, although the overall PAH levels remained below the Effect Range Low (ERL) threshold, reflecting a low ecological risk. PCBs were detected only at the fishing harbour region at the estuary's mouth, with concentrations varying from 17.16 to 130.04 ng g-1 dw, where 5Cl and 6Cl biphenyls comprised 80 % of the total composition. DDT levels, ranging from below detection limit (BDL) to 2.30 ng g-1 dw, suggested minimal recent inputs. The mean sediment quality guideline quotient (mSQGq) indicated low overall biological adverse effects across all stations. These findings offer essential baseline data regarding organic pollutant levels and ecological risks, emphasizing the need for enhanced management strategies to mitigate contaminant inputs and protect both the estuarine ecosystem and public health.

Microplastics in aquatic environments are readily colonised by microorganisms to form biofilms facilitating the transport of contaminants and attached microbes. We examine the impact of biofilm formation on the physicochemical properties of microplastics and its subsequent effects on the adsorption of organic pollutants. Here, the adsorption of triclosan (TCS) onto polystyrene (PS) microplastics was investigated by comparing pristine PS (O-PS), UV-aged PS (A-PS), and their biofilm-colonised counterparts (O-PSbio and A-PSbio). The results show that the adsorption rate of TCS by PS after aging decreased by 45 % without a significant effect on the adsorption capacity. The adsorption rate of TCS by the PS biofilm increased by 100 %, whereas the adsorption capacity decreased by 57 %. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, the diversity and richness of biofilm microorganisms were reduced in the presence of TCS, leading to a change in the dominant species of biofilm microorganisms. By accurately assessing the adsorption behaviour of organic contaminants on microplastic biofilms in the laboratory, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the interactions between microplastics and organic contaminants in real aqueous environments and provides insights into the effects of TCS, as well as the integrated risk of organic contaminants.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous contaminants which are also found in drinking water. Concentration levels in drinking water vary widely and range from a very low contribution to total daily exposure for humans to being the major source of uptake of PFAS. PFAS concentrations in Norwegian drinking water has been rarely reported. We investigated concentrations of 31 PFAS in 164 water samples, representing both source water (i.e., before drinking water treatment) and finished drinking water. Samples were taken from 18 different water bodies across Norway. The 17 waterworks involved supply drinking water to 41 % of the Norwegian population. Only four of the waterworks utilised treatment involving activated carbon which was able to significantly reduce PFAS from the source water. Samples of source water from waterworks not employing activated carbon in treatment were therefore considered to represent drinking water with regards to PFAS (142 samples). All samples from one of the water bodies exceeded the environmental quality standard (EQS) for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) according to the water framework directive (0.65 ng/L). No concentrations exceeded the sum of (20) PFAS (100 ng/L) specified in the EU directive 2020/2184 for drinking water. Several EU countries have issued lower guidelines for the sum of the four PFAS that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has established as the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). Denmark and Sweden have guidelines specifying 2 and 4 ng/L for the sum of these PFAS. Only one of the 142 drinking water samples exceeded the Danish TWI and contained a sum of 6.6 ng/L PFAS. A population exposure model, for individuals drinking water from the investigated sources, showed that only 0.5 % of the population was receiving PFAS concentrations above the Danish limit of 2 ng/L.

Preparing for future environmental pressures requires projections of how relevant risks will change over time. Current regulatory models of environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pollutants such as pharmaceuticals could be improved by considering the influence of global change factors (e.g., population growth) and by presenting uncertainty more transparently. In this article, we present the development of a prototype object-oriented Bayesian network (BN) for the prediction of environmental risk for six high-priority pharmaceuticals across 36 scenarios: current and three future population scenarios, combined with infrastructure scenarios, in three Norwegian counties. We compare the risk, characterized by probability distributions of risk quotients (RQs), across scenarios and pharmaceuticals. Our results suggest that RQs would be greatest in rural counties, due to the lower development of current wastewater treatment facilities, but that these areas consequently have the most potential for risk mitigation. This pattern intensifies under higher population growth scenarios. With this prototype, we developed a hierarchical probabilistic model and demonstrated its potential in forecasting the environmental risk of chemical stressors under plausible demographic and management scenarios, contributing to the further development of BNs for ERA. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1715-1735. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

The results of pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluents from a Norwegian hospital as well in the influent and effluents of the receiving urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTPs) presented here are the first major published study in Norway (Thomas mfl. 2007) since 2007. A larger number (n=157) of pharmaceuticals was investigated in this study than previously. We found that the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals in hospital effluents that were included also in the previous study, were mostly higher compared to in 2007, though the hospitals were not the same. We also compared the concentrations of pharmaceuticals hospital effluents, and WWTP influent and effluent with predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) based on sales of pharmaceuticals. As expected, the concentrations in hospital effluents were on average higher than PECs. The concentrations in WWTP influent was also on average somewhat higher than PEC, but WWTP effluents were on average lower than PECs. For the WWTP influent, the concentrations were not significantly different than estimates of PECs. A simple risk assessment of the WWTP effluents indicated that the environmental risk of the female sex hormones estrone and estradiol were highest. The risk quotients (RQ) of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac and the antibiotics ciprofloxacin, azitromycin and sulfametoksazol were higher than 1, indicating that environmental effects cannot be excluded. The lack of toxicity studies of several pharmaceuticals makes an environmental risk assessment impossible. Therefore, the environmental risk for most (62%) of the pharmaceuticals, remains unknown.

# README The following files are for creating the figures from the paper: ## `plot_flowervisits_nectar.ipynb` Jupyter notebook that creates the figures concerning flower visits, nectar consumption and the proportion of empty honeypots. ## `plot_activity.py` Python script that takes trajectory fragments from video analysis and computes the locomotor activity level through making histograms of bumblebee speeds. Makes two figures that are equivalent to the figure on locomotor activity in the paper. ## `statistical analysis.py` R markdown notebook that performs all the hypothesis testing for the paper. ## Data These files contain the data, and are located in the folder called `data`. `activity/activityproportions.csv` contains the computed locomotor activity level for easy plotting. `boldata/boldata.csv` contains data about the nectar bag weight before and after experiment and the counted number of empty and full honeypots. Used by `plot_flowervisits_nectar.ipynb` `flower_data/flowerData.csv` contains the computed number of visits to blue and yellow flowers per hive for easy plotting. `humlevideo_production/*/traj*_trajectories*.csv` contains constructed trajectories from all experiments seen from both cameras. These are being used by the script `plot_activity`. `humlevideo_production/*/traj*.json` contains data about the occurence of bees on flowers in each frame in each experiment. `landinger_csv` contains data about landings, that have been extracted from the `humlevideo_production/*/traj*.json` files. Used by `plot_flowervisits_nectar.ipynb`.

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pharmaceuticals relies on available measured environmental concentrations, but often such data are sparse. Predicted environmental concentrations (PECs), calculated from sales weights, are an attractive alternative but often cover only prescription sales. We aimed to rank, by environmental risk in Norway, approximately 200 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) over 2016-2019, based on sales PECs. To assess the added value of wholesale and veterinary data, we compared exposure and risk predictions with and without these additional sources. Finally, we aimed to characterize the persistence, mobility, and bioaccumulation of these APIs. We compared our PECs to available Norwegian measurements, then, using public predicted-no-effect concentrations, we calculated risk quotients (RQs) and appended experimental and predicted persistence and bioaccumulation. Our approach overestimated environmental concentrations compared with measurements for 18 of 20 APIs with comparable predictions and measurements. Seventeen APIs had mean RQs >1, indicating potential risk, while the mean RQ was 2.05 and the median 0.001, driven by sex hormones, antibiotics, the antineoplastic abiraterone, and common painkillers. Some high-risk APIs were also potentially persistent or bioaccumulative (e.g., levonorgestrel [RQ = 220] and ciprofloxacin [RQ = 56]), raising the possibility of impacts beyond their RQs. Exposure and risk were also calculated with and without over-the-counter sales, showing that prescriptions explained 70% of PEC magnitude. Likewise, human sales, compared with veterinary, explained 85%. Sales PECs provide an efficient option for ERA, designed to overestimate compared with analytical techniques and potentially held back by limited data availability and an inability to quantify uncertainty but, nevertheless, an ideal initial approach for identification and ranking of risks. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2253-2270. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

The Stockholm Convention has internationally focused on inventorying, eliminating, or limiting primary sources of regulated POPs, and from time to time, new chemicals are added. Research indicates a successful reduction of primary sources leading to globally declining levels of atmospheric POPs. The environmental cycling of POPs, and consequently their environmental concentrations are due to a complex interplay of processes that controls the inter-compartment exchanges. Riverine transport represents a key POPs pollution source for coastal environments. This chapter discusses the sources and processes controlling the fate and transport of POPs in a catchment system and their discharge to the coastal environment and the consequent fate in marine environment. Further, it discusses the importance of environmental fate models for riverine transport: assessing chemical contaminants in the fields using multimedia fate models (MMFMs) and water quality modelling (WQMs). Marine organisms can uptake soluble contaminants, through diffusion or diet. The processes driving the environmental fate of POPs in oceans and uptake by marine biota have been reviewed. Transformation processes acting on marine contaminants can be biotic (hydrolysis/redox reactions, photochemical processes) and abiotic (oxic/anoxic processes mediated by living organisms). The chapter provides an overview of the long-range transport of certain environmental pollutants based on their physico-chemical properties. Ocean currents are important vectors for the long-range transport of pollutants (swimmers, flyers, single/multiple hoppers), according to their partitioning behaviour (among compartments) that drives the environmental transport mechanisms.

Bayesian network (BN) models are increasingly used as tools to support probabilistic environmental risk assessments (ERAs), because they can better account for uncertainty compared with the simpler approaches commonly used in traditional ERA. We used BNs as metamodels to link various sources of information in a probabilistic framework, to predict the risk of pesticides to aquatic communities under given scenarios. The research focused on rice fields surrounding the Albufera Natural Park (Valencia, Spain), and considered three selected pesticides: acetamiprid (an insecticide), 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA; a herbicide), and azoxystrobin (a fungicide). The developed BN linked the inputs and outputs of two pesticide models: a process-based exposure model (Rice Water Quality [RICEWQ]), and a probabilistic effects model (Predicts the Ecological Risk of Pesticides [PERPEST]) using case-based reasoning with data from microcosm and mesocosm experiments. The model characterized risk at three levels in a hierarchy: biological endpoints (e.g., molluscs, zooplankton, insects, etc.), endpoint groups (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and community processes), and community. The pesticide risk to a biological endpoint was characterized as the probability of an effect for a given pesticide concentration interval. The risk to an endpoint group was calculated as the joint probability of effect on any of the endpoints in the group. Likewise, community-level risk was calculated as the joint probability of any of the endpoint groups being affected. This approach enabled comparison of risk to endpoint groups across different pesticide types. For example, in a scenario for the year 2050, the predicted risk of the insecticide to the community (40% probability of effect) was dominated by the risk to invertebrates (36% risk). In contrast, herbicide-related risk to the community (63%) resulted from risk to both plants (35%) and invertebrates (38%); the latter might represent (in the present study) indirect effects of toxicity through the food chain. This novel approach combines the quantification of spatial variability of exposure with probabilistic risk prediction for different components of aquatic ecosystems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:182-196. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Preparing for tomorrow’s environmental issues requires understanding of how risks will evolve with time. Current regulatory models of environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals make a conservative prediction of present risk, without considering interactions with global change or presenting uncertainty transparently. In this paper, we present a prototype object-oriented Bayesian network for the prediction of risk for 6 pharmaceuticals across 36 spatial, temporal, population growth and infrastructure scenarios. We compare individual and combined distributions of Risk Quotients across the scenarios. Our results suggest that risk posed would be greatest in rural regions, especially under larger population growth scenarios, but that improved wastewater treatment infrastructure could mitigate risk. We demonstrate the added value of a joint probability of risk threshold exceedance approach, to summed Risk Quotients. With this prototype, we have developed a large-scale probabilistic model and shown its value in forecasting risk, including via an alternative approach to combining individual risks.

An integrated biological effects study using field transplanted mussels was applied to determine the potential biological effects of an effluent discharge from an aluminium smelter into a Norwegian fjord. Chemical body burden and biological effects were measured in mussels positioned downstream (1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 km) from the aluminium smelters discharge for a period of 6 weeks. A suite of biomarkers, from whole organism to subcellular responses were measured. Chemical concentrations in mussel tissues were low; however, a change in the PAC (polyaromatic compound) profile from high to low pyrogenic influence provided evidence of exposure to the smelter's effluent. Overall, the biological responses observed where greater in the mussels positioned closest to the smelter (1-5 km). Lowest chemical accumulation and biomarker responses were observed in mussels positioned 10 km from the smelter and were considered as the reference field population. Mussels located furthest from the smelter (20 km) exhibited significant biomarker responses and suggested a different contaminant source within the fjord. The integrated biological response index (IBR) was applied and reflected the expected level of exposure to the smelters discharge, with highest IBR calculated in mussels positioned closest to the discharge (1-5 km). Principal component analysis (PCA) also differentiated among mussel groups, with the most impacted located closest to the smelter. Not one chemical factor could explain the biological responses observed in mussels, but the presence of PAH16, PAH41 and metals Mn, Ni and Cr were the main contributors measured to the higher stress seen in the mussels from the 1 and 5 km groups.

Movento 100 SC is a new insecticide containing the active substance spirotetramat. The intended use is in stone fruit, pome fruit, vegetables and ornamentals outdoors, and lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in greenhouses. VKM was requested by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to consider possible health risk for operators related to the properties of Movento 100 SC; in particular the relevance of the effects of spirotetramat on thyroid hormones, brain, thymus and body weight observed in dogs, and the reproductive effects of spirotetramat observed in rats. VKM was also asked to consider the fate and behaviour of Movento 100 SC with the active ingredient spirotetramat in the environment, and the ecotoxicological effects and risks related to its use. The risk assessment was finalized in a meeting on May 24. 2013, by VKM’s Scientific Panel on Plant Protection Products. VKM’s conclusions are as follows: Health: VKM concludes that spirotetramat shows toxic effects in dogs and rats that could be relevant for humans. Thyroid and thymus glands are target organs in the oral subchronic toxicity studies of spirotetramat in dogs, and effects are observed from 19 mg/kg bw/day (600 ppm). Decreases in circulating thyroid hormone levels were detected in all three studies carried out with dogs (28-, 90-days and 1-year) and should be considered toxicologically relevant. The opinion of the Panel is that it cannot be excluded that the observed brain dilatation in dogs is treatment-related, and relevant to humans. Furthermore, VKM concludes that the reproductive effect observed in rats could be relevant for humans. VKM proposes a NOAEL of 5 mg/kg bw/day (200 ppm) for spirotetramat based on a 1- year toxicity study in dogs, and a NOAEL of 100 mg/kg bw/day based on the acute neurotoxicity study in rats. VKM supports/proposes: ADI: 0.05 mg/kg bw/day. AOEL: 0.05 mg/kg bw/day. ARfD: 1 mg/kg bw/day. Risk calculations show minimal risk if personal protective equipment is used. Environment: VKM concludes that spirotetramat and its metabolites are not expected to accumulate in soil. It is not expected that spirotetramat or any of its metabolites will reach concentrations in groundwater above the threshold level of 0.1 μg/L when the formulation Movento 100 SC is applied according to the intended use. VKM concludes that use of Movento 100 SC with the active substance spirotetramat according to the proposed application scheme in Norway represents a minimal risk of adverse effects on terrestrial mammals, birds, earthworms, and soil microorganisms. However, in-field effects on sensitive species of predatory mites in the crop cannot be excluded. The risk of adverse effects on bees is minimal providing that spirotetramat is not used on crops during flowering or when bees are actively foraging. For aquatic organisms in surface water, the risk is considered minimal, provided that a 5 m buffer zone to open water is used.

Infinito is a new fungicide containing the two active substances fluopicolide and propamocarb-HCL. Infinito is a new generation fungicide to protect potatoes against the blight pathogen phytophtora infestans. The risk assessment was finalized at a meeting Mai 29, 2012, by the Panel on plant protection products of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM). The Norwegian Food Safety Authority would like, in this regard, an assessment of the following: The fate and behaviour in the environment and the ecotoxicological effects and risks with regard to the properties of Infinito and the active substances. The Panel is particularly asked to look at the following: o The persistence of fluopicolide and its metabolites. o The leaching potential of fluopicolide and its metabolites. VKM considers both fluopicolide and its main metabolite M-01 (2,6-dichlorobenzamid (BAM)) to be persistent in Norwegian soils and surface waters. Other conclusions from VKM are as follows: Fluopicolide and its main metabolite may have a significant potential for soil accumulation after repeated use under Norwegian conditions. Fluopicolide shows low mobility in both studies and modelling. Metabolite M-01 (BAM) is however highly mobile. There is minimal risk for toxic effects of fluopicolide to terrestrial and aquatic organisms with the proposed application regime.

Coragen 20 SC is a new product in Norway containing the active substance chlorantraniliprole. It is applied for use in apples against codling moth (Cydia pomonella), apple fruit moth (Argyresthia conjugella) and free leaf living larvae. The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) was asked by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to perform a risk assessment on human health, environmental fate and ecotoxicological of the active substance and the product. The risk assessment of the product was approved at a meeting 11th of May 2010 by VKMs Scientific Panel on Pesticides (Panel 2). VKMs Panel 2 concludes as following: The product and the active substance have low acute oral, dermal and inhalation toxicities. Both are non-irritating to the skin, and no allergenic potential by skin contact were shown. Coragen was non-irritating to the eyes, while chlorantraniliprole showed a weak irritating potential. Chlorantraniliprole is not shown to have any genotoxic or carcinogenic potential, or to be teratogenic or toxic to the reproduction of female animals. The potential for testicular toxicity of chlorantraniliprole is unclear because the study design and the limited number of young dogs (2/sex/group) do not provide basis for a firm conclusion. No particular target organ for toxicity in any species in the sub-chronic and chronic toxicity studies was seen. The observed dose- and time dependent increased degree of microvesiculation in the zona fasiculata of the adrenal cortex in male rats, is however of uncertain biological significance. All test species (rat, mice, dog) showed physiological adaption to chlorantraniliprole administration (increased liver metabolism with induction of cytochrome P450 enzymes) which was manifested as increased liver weight and hepatocellular hypertrophy. In the chronic toxicity study in mice, the increased liver weight and hepatocellular hypertophy was accompanied with eosinofilic foci, which was assessed as an adverse effect. The no observed effect level (NOAEL) derived from this study serves as basis for calculations of values for acceptable daily intake (ADI) and acceptable operator exposure level (AOEL). In Panel 2‘s opinion a sub-chronic study (90 days) with the technical material (E2Y45-282) including relevant concentration of the impurity IN-G2S78 should be performed. This would bring information on possible influence of the impurity on the toxicological profile of the technical material, and consequently on the assessment of the NOAELs in the various toxic studies. The estimated risk for operator and for bystanders or for workers re-entering treated crops is assessed as minimal. Chlorantraniliprole is persistent in soil with half live of about 1 year. The long half life indicates high potential for accumulation in soil after repeated use, which is confirmed by both model simulations and field studies. The Panel considers field data from the south of Europe not to be relevant for the Nordic conditions based on different climate conditions and soil properties contributing in different directions. The Panel considers that the existing documentation is not sufficient for a firm conclusion on the use of normalised field data for modelling purposes. However, the substance is persistent and expected to accumulate in soil. The Panel concludes that there is minimal risk for toxic effects on mammals, birds, bees, and microorganisms in soil due to chlorantraniliprole exposure with the proposed exposure regime. Panel concludes that there is “very high risk” for effects on in-field non target arthropods from chlorantraniliprole exposure. For soil living invertebrates, earthworms seem rather insensitive to chlorantraniliprole and the Panel considers the toxic effects to be minimal. Panel considers the risk for toxic effects on soil living arthropods to be high. Crustaceans and insects larvae are the aquatic organisms most sensitive to chlorantraniliprole. The Panel concludes that there is a minimal risk of toxic effects on aquatic organisms due to exposure to chlorantraniliprole with the proposed application regime provided that a buffer zone of 30 m to surface water is applied.

By 2050, the global population is predicted to reach nine billion, with almost three quarters living in cities. The road to 2050 will be marked by changes in land use, climate, and the management of water and food across the world. These global changes (GCs) will likely affect the emissions, transport, and fate of chemicals, and thus the exposure of the natural environment to chemicals. ECORISK2050 is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network that brings together an interdisciplinary consortium of academic, industry and governmental partners to deliver a new generation of scientists, with the skills required to study and manage the effects of GCs on chemical risks to the aquatic environment. The research and training goals are to: (1) assess how inputs and behaviour of chemicals from agriculture and urban environments are affected by different environmental conditions, and how different GC scenarios will drive changes in chemical risks to human and ecosystem health; (2) identify short-to-medium term adaptation and mitigation strategies, to abate unacceptable increases to risks, and (3) develop tools for use by industry and policymakers for the assessment and management of the impacts of GC-related drivers on chemical risks. This project will deliver the next generation of scientists, consultants, and industry and governmental decision-makers who have the knowledge and skillsets required to address the changing pressures associated with chemicals emitted by agricultural and urban activities, on aquatic systems on the path to 2050 and beyond.

Plenum is a new insecticide containing the new active substance pymetrozine. Plenum is an insecticide against different pests in ornamentals, lettuce, cucumber and tomato in greenhouse and against pollen beetles in oilseed- and turnip rapes. The risk assessment was finalized at a meeting Mai 29, 2012, by VKM’s Scientific Panel on plant protection products (VKM). The Panel is in particular asked by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to look at the following: The human health risk for operators related to the properties of the active substance and the product. The Panel is in particular asked to look at the following: o The effects seen in studies on dog and if these effects warrant a classification for chronic toxicity. o The oncogenic effects in liver and lungs o The genotoxicity of metabolite CGA 300407. o The effects on reproduction and if the effects seen in teratology studies and developmental neurotoxicity study warrant a classification for developmental toxicity o The establishment of NOAELs and reference values (ADI, AOEL and ARfD). o The classification and labelling of the active substances and the product. VKM’s conclusion is as follows: The effects reported in the repeated dose toxicity studies with dogs should be considered as adverse. The increased incidence of liver and lung tumors should be considered as relevant for humans. It cannot be excluded that a genotoxic mechanism could be involved in the formation of the liver tumors, which would have implications for risk assessment. It should therefore be considered to test pymetrozine in more sensitive in vivo genotoxic endpoints in liver. The effects reported in the teratogenicity studies in rats and rabbits and in the developmental neurotoxicity study in rats should be considered for a classification of pymetrozine for developmental toxicity. Risk calculations with both the German model and the UK POEM show low risk if personal protection equipment is used. VKM propose: NOAEL of 0.6 mg/kg bw/day for pymetrozine based on the 1-year study in dogs. AOEL of 0.006 mg/kg bw/day for pymetrozine based on the NOAEL value at 0.6 mg/kg bw/day from the one year study in dogs and an UF of 100. ADI of 0.006 for pymetrozine based on the NOAEL value at 0.6 mg/kg bw/day from the one year study in dogs and an UF of 100. ARfD of 0.02 mg/kg bw/day for pymetrozine based on the LOAEL value at 8.1 mg/kg bw/day from the developmental neurotoxicity study and an UF of 500 (10 x interspecies difference, 10 x intraspecies difference, 3 x due to the use of a LOAEL value and 2 x due to the adversity of the neurodevelopmental effects). VKM supports the classification proposal from Norwegian Food Safety Authority.