Synthetic approaches to the 2015-2018 new agrochemicals.

In this review, the synthesis of 33 agrochemicals that received an international standardization organization (ISO) name between January 2015 and December 2018 is described. The aim is to showcase the broad range and scope of reactions, reagents and intermediates used to discover and produce the latest active ingredients addressing the crop protection industry's needs.

Is there a rationale for direct dosing of chemicals to nursing pups in the EOGRTS (OECD 443)?

In OECD guideline 443 - Extended One Generation Reproductive Toxicity Study (EOGRTS) - to be used for testing industrial and agrochemicals, it has been indicated that careful consideration of benefits and disadvantages should be made prior to conducting direct-dosing studies in nursing pups. Nursing pups will not be directly dosed in dietary and drinking water studies whereas in oral gavage studies this possibility exists. Besides the risk of intubation trauma and overdosing due to direct exposure and exposure via the mother's milk, direct dosing could lead to a different hazard assessment of chemicals depending on the choice of the route of administration. In addition, in case of industrial and agrochemicals used in industrial or professional settings only, there will never be direct exposure of newborns. Moreover, direct dosing of nursing pups is an artificial, non-physiological, route of exposure and as such it would hamper risk assessment. It should therefore only be considered in exceptional cases and justified on a case-by-case approach.

CT VSA - 23.03.16: Vigilância em Saúde de Populações Expostas a Agrotóxicos (VSPEA). Estado da arte dos planos de ação estaduais

CT VSA - 23.03.16 - Vigilância em Saúde de Populações Expostas a Agrotóxicos VSPEA. Estado da arte dos planos de ação estaduais

CT VSA - 23.03.16: monitoramento de agrotóxicos em água para consumo humano

CT VSA - 23.03.16 - Monitoramento de agrotóxicos em água para consumo humano

Nanomaterials in food and agriculture: An overview on their safety concerns and regulatory issues.

Nanotechnology has seen exponential growth in last decade due to its unique physicochemical properties; however, the risk associated with this emerging technology has withdrawn ample attention in the past decade. Nanotoxicity is majorly contributed to the small size and large surface area of nanomaterials, which allow easy dispersion and invasion of anatomical barriers in human body. Unique physio-chemical properties of nanoparticles make the investigation of their toxic consequences intricate and challenging. This makes it important to have an in-depth knowledge of different mechanisms involved in nanomaterials's action and toxicity. Nano-toxicity has various effects on human health and diseases as they can easily enter into the humans via different routes, mainly respiratory, dermal, and gastrointestinal routes. This also limits the use of nanomaterials as therapeutic and diagnostic tools. This review focuses on the nanomaterial-cell interactions leading to toxicological responses. Different mechanisms involved in nanoparticle-mediated toxicity with the main focus on oxidative stress, genotoxic, and carcinogenic potential has also been discussed. Different methods and techniques used for the characterization of nanomaterials in food and other biological matrices have also been discussed in detail. Nano-toxicity on different organs-with the major focus on the cardiac and respiratory system-have been discussed. Conclusively, the risk management of nanotoxicity is also summarized. This review provides a better understanding of the current scenario of the nanotoxicology, disease progression due to nanomaterials, and their use in the food industry and medical therapeutics. Briefly, the required rules, regulations, and the need of policy makers has been discussed critically.

Agricultural Applications for Antimicrobials. A Danger to Human Health: An Official Position Statement of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

The use of antibiotics in agriculture, particularly in food-producing animals, is pervasive and represents the overwhelming majority of antibiotic use worldwide. The link between antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans is unequivocal. Transmission can occur by ingesting undercooked meats harboring resistant bacteria, by direct contact of animals by animal handlers, and by various other means. Antibiotics used in aquaculture and antifungals used in horticulture are also an evolving threat to human health. Regulations aimed at decreasing the amount of antibiotics used in food production to limit the development of antibiotic resistance have recently been implemented. However, further action is needed to minimize antibiotic use in agriculture. This article describes the extent of this current problem and serves as the official position of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists on this urgent threat to human health.

Synthetic approaches to the 2010-2014 new agrochemicals.

In this review, the synthesis of 30 agrochemicals that received an international standardization organization (ISO) name during the last five years (January 2010 to December 2014) is described. The aim is to showcase the range and scope of chemistries used to discover or produce the latest active ingredients addressing the crop protection industry's needs.

Federal Farmworker Housing Standards and Regulations, Their Promise and Limitations, and Implications for Farmworker Health.

The housing available to most farmworkers is substandard and unacceptable in 21st-century America. The federal government established minimal occupational safety and health standards applicable to migrant farmworker labor camps decades ago, and some states have statutory schemes and regulations that set standards for farm labor camps and employee housing. Many of these federal and state regulations no longer reflect current employment and housing trends, and enforcement success varies greatly. These regulations implicitly recognize the connection between housing conditions and health, but do not effectively address that connection. This review describes the current state of farmworker housing, discusses laws and regulations pertaining to such housing, and highlights the literature on health risks associated with inadequate housing. We propose specific recommendations to strengthen enforcement and reduce the risks of substandard housing for the health of farmworkers and their families.

Collecting Comparative Data on Farmworker Housing and Health: Recommendations for Collecting Housing and Health Data Across Places and Time.

The substandard nature of the housing in which most farmworkers live has detrimental effects on their health, as well as on their children's health and development. However, little research has directly documented associations between farmworker housing and health; existing research is not always comparable due to differences in design and measurement. Comparative data can help determine actual causal links between housing characteristics and farmworker health and help to evaluate the efficacy of current housing policy. The goal of this paper is to provide guidelines promoting comparable research on farmworker housing and the association of this housing with health. This paper reviews general concepts relevant to measuring farmworker housing and health, issues that should be considered in designing farmworker housing and health research, data collection methods, and measures. It concludes with recommendations for a research agenda on farmworker housing and health.

Regulatory aspects of nanotechnology in the agri/feed/food sector in EU and non-EU countries.

Nanotechnology has the potential to innovate the agricultural, feed and food sectors (hereinafter referred to as agri/feed/food). Applications that are marketed already include nano-encapsulated agrochemicals or nutrients, antimicrobial nanoparticles and active and intelligent food packaging. Many nano-enabled products are currently under research and development, and may enter the market in the near future. As for any other regulated product, applicants applying for market approval have to demonstrate the safe use of such new products without posing undue safety risks to the consumer and the environment. Several countries all over the world have been active in examining the appropriateness of their regulatory frameworks for dealing with nanotechnologies. As a consequence of this, different approaches have been taken in regulating nano-based products in agri/feed/food. The EU, along with Switzerland, were identified to be the only world region where nano-specific provisions have been incorporated in existing legislation, while in other regions nanomaterials are regulated more implicitly by mainly building on guidance for industry. This paper presents an overview and discusses the state of the art of different regulatory measures for nanomaterials in agri/feed/food, including legislation and guidance for safety assessment in EU and non-EU countries.

Comments on pesticide risk assessment by the revision of Directive EU 91/414.

INTRODUCTION: Human health and the environment are major concerns for European Commission policy on the authorisation of plant protection products. The new regulation that revises and replaces the directive 91/414/EC moves towards the adoption of a Persistent Bioaccumulation Toxicity cutoff criterion because current pesticide risk assessment (PRA) is deterministic, based on few standard cases and therefore characterised by uncertainty. This revision could create concerns about sustainability. DISCUSSION: This paper analyses some effects of this directive on the agrochemical market and assumes new effects resulting from the introduction of the revision. Suggestions are made as to how pesticide risk assessment will have to adapt to answer the request of legislators on safety standards and sustainability, introducing probabilistic PRA. Toxicity and exposure functions will be fully characterised, producing distributions of predicted impact and quantifying the variability and uncertainty. For adopting PRA studies at the local/catchment scale, new assessment schemes will be necessary.

[Good laboratory practice: applications in the plant health sector]. / Buona pratica di laboratorio: applicazione nel settore dei prodotti fitosanitari.

The principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) are also applicable to studies on plant protection products (PPP). In Italy the placing of PPP on the market is authorized by Ministry of Health in accordance with the Decree no. 194/95, which implements Directive 91/414/EEC. The studies listed in Annexes II and III of Directive 91/414/EEC must be conducted in accordance with the principles of GLP, independently of the site of conduct (laboratory, greenhouse, field). Studies on efficacy may be instead conducted in accordance with the principles of good experimental practice. The Ministry of Health grants the compliance status to test facilities which work according to the principles of BPL, with the exception of test facilities which conduct field studies as regards efficacy tests. Such test facilities are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

[Criteria for evaluating deviations from good laboratory practice]. / Criteri per la valutazione delle deviazioni dai principi di buona pratica di laboratorio.

The assessment of compliance with the principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) requires that different observations be integrated in a comprehensive assessment of the adequacy of the test facility inspected. The major types of deviations are examined in detail, since they might jeopardize the scientific quality of data. These are: a) deviations, even though seemingly minor ones, which could signal an inadequate understanding of the GLP principles (e.g., insufficient attention to personnel training); b) inadequate application of the GLP principles to basic procedures and/or structures (e.g., clean-dirty interfaces in the laboratory animal unit); c) inadequacies concerning specific study types. The elaboration of new guidelines leads to the definition of new quality requirements and critical points. One such case is the development of tests to identify endocrine effects which in turn triggers the need of structures and personnel adequate to examine seminological or hormonal parameters.

[Chemical compound safety: typology of competency accreditation for assay centers and analytical laboratories]. / La sicurezza dei composti chimici: tipologie di riconoscimento della competenza per i Centri di saggio e i laboratori di analisi.

The use of chemicals warrants many benefits on which modern society is entirely dependent. On the other hand, the lack of reliable information about the impact of the use of chemicals raises increasing concern. In order to guarantee the safety of chemicals it is mandatory to proceed to risk assessment, which in turn consists of hazard evaluation and exposure estimation. These activities are strictly dependent upon the availability of reliable data and information, produced by, e.g., test facilities, test laboratories and clinical laboratories, the specific competence of which has been properly recognised. All this applies in the pre-marketing phase as well as during the use of chemical substances. In this latter phase it is necessary to carry out an appropriate monitoring of environment, food and, in specific situations, human beings (biological monitoring). In the field of chemical safety, standards, legal instruments and operative instruments are nowadays available. These tools make it possible to assess both the quality of data and the competence of the entities involved in the production of the data themselves.

Good laboratory practice in the European Community. Role of the commission and the member states: external aspects.

The paper recalls the history of the development of the OECD principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) and explains why the European Community has a role to play in the area of GLP. It presents briefly the current legal framework in the European Community (Directives 87/18/EEC and 88/320/EEC) and describes the role of the Commission and the member states in the practical implementation of the GLP principles within the European Community. Impacts of GLP on the relations of the European Community with third countries, both within the framework of the OECD and through bilateral trade agreements (mutual recognition agreements, MRA) based on article 133 of the treaty establishing the European Community, are then examined in greater detail.

Improving the quality of data used in environmental economics research.

Valuing environmental goods through contingent valuation and through other survey techniques is difficult because of the lack of traditional markets for those goods. EPA provides leadership in overcoming these challenges, using focus groups, workshops, handbooks, and teams of distinguished economists to obtain more reliable economic data from the surveys. Agency economists have provided leadership in employing production economics tools to identify win-win approaches to solve pervasive and neglected environmental problems. In addition, we exploit the speed of sophisticated computers, building field runoff models into economic models and aggregating results from tens of thousands of field sites. These very flexible models provide much more credible, site-specific analyses than previous models, and they offer flexible and efficient remedies to support Total Maximum Daily Loads and other new programs.