EFSA@EXPO: What’s new in environmental risk assessment?

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) The process of assessing potential harm to the environment caused by a substance, activity or natural occurrence. This may include the introduction of GM plants, the use of pesticides, or the spread of plant pests is an important part of maintaining a healthy environment and conserving biodiversity A term used to describe the variety of living organisms existing in a specific environment. ERA Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is the process of assessing potential harm to the environment caused by a substance, activity or natural occurrence. This may include the introduction of GM plants, the use of pesticides, or the spread of plant pests evaluates the potential adverse effects of regulated stressors on the environment and has become indispensable to regulatory decision-making. Setting the scene, Alan Gray of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the UK will discuss significant recent advances and remaining challenges in the field.

Speakers include Lorraine Maltby of the University of Sheffield, UK, and Glenn Suter of the Environmental Protection Agency, US, on operational environmental protection goals and ecosystem services Benefits to human or animal populations provided by an ecosystem, such as food or fuel provision, natural medicinal ingredients, and maintenance of soil fertility; Joe Smith, an independent advisor from Australia, on the importance of good problem formulation The process of defining the specific problem being addressed in, for example, an environmental risk assessment. It involves articulating a question and defining how it may be answered (e.g. by identifying the endpoints to be measured); and Jörg Romeis of the Institute for Sustainability Sciences in Switzerland, on methods to assure high quality studies

The session concludes with a presentation by Jeff Pettis of the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, USA, looking at a case study to examine how multiple stressors on bees can be assessed.

The session “Advancing environmental risk assessment A specialised field of applied science that involves reviewing scientific data and studies in order to evaluate risks associated with certain hazards. It involves four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation” takes place on 16 October, from 09:00-13:00. Follow the session live on the EFSA@EXPO website.