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The conclusions of EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, the Netherlands, and co-rapporteur Member State, Estonia, for the pesticide active substance Coniothyrium minitans CON/M/91-08 are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation ( EU) No 844/2012. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of C. minitans CON/M/91-08 as a fungicide by overhead irrigation or incorporation for soil decontamination against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in winter rape, lettuce, cucumber, beans, oilseed rape, sunflower or applied with the irrigation system in winter rape and lettuce. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) following the peer review of the initial risk assessment carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State the Netherlands for the pesticide active substance pyriproxyfen are reported. The context of the peer review was that requested by the European Commission following the submission and evaluation of confirmatory ecotoxicology data. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses of pyriproxyfen as an insecticide on protected tomato and aubergine and field grown cotton. The reliable endpoints concluded as being appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, derived from the available studies and literature in the dossier peer reviewed, are presented. A concern is identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authority of the rapporteur Member State the Netherlands, for the pesticide active substance acequinocyl are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Regulation (EU) No 188/2011. The conclusions were reached on the basis of the evaluation of the representative uses as an acaricide on ornamentals, apples and pears. The reliable endpoints concluded as being appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment, derived from the available studies and literature in the dossier peer reviewed, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are identified for all the outdoor uses assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethylenebisdithiocarbamates are widely used as fungicides in agriculture. Although EBDC's have a low acute toxicity, they are suspected to have immune effects at low doses. However, little human studies on these effects have been published. In the Netherlands, a study was conducted among pesticide exposed workers aimed at evaluating the short-term and long-term immune effects of exposure and the relation between ethylenebisdithiocarbamate and immune effects. Forty-one re-entry workers and 40 nonexposed controls were medically examined; furthermore, immune parameters were determined in blood, and all participants filled in a questionnaire regarding exposure and outcome parameters. The level of ethylenethiourea in urine was determined as indicator of exposure. No relevant adverse immune effects were found in the pesticide exposed workers compared with the nonexposed controls. Also no exposure response relationship between immune effects and ethylenebisdithiocarbamate in urine was found. This finding might be due to very low exposure levels of the re-entry work but might also be due to a lack of immunotoxicity of ethylenebisdithiocarbamate at normal exposure levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor aquatic ditch mesocosms were treated with a range of pesticides to simulate various spray drift rates resulting from a typical crop protection program used in the cultivation of potatoes in The Netherlands. The main experimental aims of the present study were to provide information on the fate and ecological effects of drift of the pesticides into surface water and to evaluate the effectiveness of drift-reduction measures in mitigating risks. The pesticides selected and the dosage, frequency, and timing of application were based on normal agricultural practices in the potato crop. Applications of prosulfocarb, metribuzin (both herbicides], lambda-cyhalothrin (insecticide), chlorothalonil, and fluazinam (both fungicides) were made in the sequence typical of the spray calendar for potatoes. A total of 15 treatments with the various compounds were made by spray application to the water surface at 0.2%, 1%, and 5% of the recommended label rates. Chemical fate and effects on ecosystem function and structure (phytoplankton, zooplankton, chlorophyll-a, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, breakdown of plant litter) were investigated. To interpret the observed effects, treatment concentrations were also expressed in toxic units (TU), which describe the relative toxicity of the compounds with standard toxicity test organisms (Daphnia and algae). After treatment, each compound disappeared from the water phase within 2 d, with the exception of prosulfocarb, for which 50% dissipation time (DT50) values ranged between 6 and 7 d. At the 5% treatment level, an exposure peak of 0.9 TUalgae was observed, which resulted in short-term responses of pH. oxygen, and phytoplankton. At the 5% treatment level, exposure concentrations also exceeded 0.1 TUDaphnia, and this resulted in longterm effects on zooplankton and macroinvertebrates, some of which did not fully recover by the end of the present study. At the 1% treatment level, only slight transient effects were observed on a limited number of zooplankton and macroinvertebrate species and on pH. At the 0.2% level, no consistent treatment-related effects were observed. Most of the observed effects were consistent with the results from higher-tier and mesocosm studies with the individual compounds. Multi and repeated stress played a small role within the applied pesticide package, because of rapid dissipation of most substances and the absence of many simultaneous applications. This suggests that risk assessments based on the individual compounds would in this case have bean sufficiently protective for their uses in a crop protection program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study conducted in Netherlands regarding the health risk of greenhouse crops exposed to pesticide residues with emphasis on dermal exposure. The authors discuss the importance of risk assessment to characterize the exposure processes as well as the transfer of pesticide residue present at the crop during worker activities which results to dermal exposure . Moreover, they presented several data about pesticide residues as well as the establishment of dissipation curves for various pesticides.

Information about several papers discussed at an international workshop hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands is presented. Topics include the pesticide toxicology studies for worker risk assessment, the application of probabilistic exposure assessment for evaluating risks, and the importance of use information in exposure and risk assessment processes. The workshop featured several experts including John H. Ross, Neil G. Carmichael, and Paul Y. Hamey.

Information about several papers discussed at an international workshop hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands is presented. Topics include the importance of field use information on the risk assessment of pesticide exposure, the combination of exposure data and use information into risk and exposure assessments, and the guidance for pesticide use databases. The workshop suggested the collection of information intended for worker exposure assessment.

Information about several papers discussed at an international workshop hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands is presented. Topics include the probabilistic approach towards non-dietary exposure assessment of pesticides, the formulation of guidelines for probabilistic exposure and risk assessment, and the complexity of setting a probabilistic exposure estimate. The workshop discussed issues that should be stressed in guidance on input.

Information about several papers discussed at an international workshop hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands is presented. Topics include the role of toxicology studies on pesticides for worker risk assessment, the replacement of dermal toxicity studies, and the addition of new studies contributing to the evaluation of worker risk. The workshop also discussed the impact of dermal exposure to workers when differences in qualitative toxicokinetics are evident.

Several methods exist to study human behaviour in everyday life: e.g. an oral or written interview, measurement of physical variables and observation. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages, which are described in this paper. When a clear picture of actual human behaviour and information about an entire activity are required, for example to assess risks of exposure to chemical substances, it is best to use a combination of available methods. In this way the advantages of all methods can be combined. This was done in the Wageningen mouthing study of which some results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about several papers discussed at an international workshop hosted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands is presented. Topics include the significance of toxicology studies to worker risk assessment, the use of modeling tools in performing probabilistic exposure and risk assessment, and the practice of biomonitoring for residential exposure. The workshop featured several experts including John H. Ross, Neil G. Carmichael, and Paul Y. Hamey.

In risk assessment, information from toxicity studies is combined with information on worker exposure. In general, agricultural practice implies long-term intermittent exposure to various pesticides. This issue can only be addressed when sufficient information exist, on exposure regimes. Patterns of application of pesticides and the use frequency of single pesticide products on a number of representive key crops from various agricultural sectors in the Netherlands were studied. The results show that there is an enormous variation in pesticide usage between and within sectors. On nearly all crops studied the number of applications with insecticides and fungicides was higher than the number of applications with herbicides. The average frequency of application of a the most used insecticide and fungicide products on the most intensively treated crops was between 10 and 20 times a year. But on most crops single pesticide products were used not more than seven times a year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]