Scientific Opinion on the effect assessment for pesticides on sediment organisms in edge-of-field surface water

The EFSA Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR Panel) was tasked to revise the Guidance Document (GD) on Aquatic Ecotoxicology under Council Directive 91/414/EEC (SANCO/3268/2001 rev. 4 (final), 17 October 2002). This scientific opinion of the PPR Panel is the second of three requested deliverables within this mandate. The scientific background for the risk assessment on sediment organisms in edge-of-field surface waters is provided, with reference to benthic ecology and ecotoxicology, available test protocols and current knowledge on exposure and effects of sediment-bound plant protection products (PPPs). The scientific opinion provides approaches on how to derive regulatory acceptable concentrations (RACs) for sediment organisms and exposure to active substances of PPPs and transformation products of these substances, and how to link them in a tiered approach to predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) for the sediment compartment. A list of uncertainties in relation to such approaches is given.