Assessment of the toxicity of pesticides for agricultural use at national and international level

Last updated on 14-12-2022 by Pierre Daubresse

Project duration:

January 2, 1990

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Project with no end date

In short

This program covers the activities related to the assessment of the toxicity of active substances/pesticides at the international level and to the approval of Pesticides at Belgian level. Our experts are responsible for the assessment of the toxicological part of the files submitted by the industry, for which Belgium is the Member State rapporteur. They assess human health hazards, propose human health reference doses, a classification and labelling for active substances and formulations, and assess the exposure of and risks for operators, workers, bystanders and residents exposed to these substances.

Project description

The inclusion of the pesticides in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 is done in accordance with the requirements of said regulation. Toxicological assessments of active substances for Belgium are carried out by Sciensano experts, who take into account recent scientific developments at international level (EU, EFSA, OECD, WHO, JMPR, IPCS, FAO, US EPA, etc.) in the field of risk assessment, modes of toxic action (carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects, and endocrine disruption), exposure models, testing methods, etc.

As part of the approval of pesticide formulations at Belgian level, our experts are responsible for assessing the human health hazards, proposing a classification and labelling, and assessing the exposure of operators, workers, bystanders and residents.

This work involves active participation in the development of testing requirements, risk assessment procedures of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), risk assessment guidance documents and the formulation of scientific opinions on the future development of the Regulation.