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Environmental Databases
Resources
The Office of Pesticide Programs has three environmental databases that it uses to assess hazards to the environment and to wildlife, aquatic organisms, and plants. Some of these databases are in the initial phases of development, while others are fully operational. A description of each of these databases along with their contacts are listed below.
On this Page
Ecotoxicity Database
Ecotoxicity Database contains ecotoxicity studies submitted by registrants to support the registration or approval of their pesticide products. Ecotoxicity studies measure the effects of chemicals on fish, wildlife, plants, and other wild organisms.
Over the last 30 years, pesticide registrants or manufacturers have submitted thousands of ecotoxicity studies to support the registration or approval of their pesticide products. Ecotoxicity studies measure the effects of chemicals on fish, wildlife, plants, and other wild organisms.
EPA has reviewed these studies according to criteria outlined in their Standard Evaluation Procedures Manuals and testing methods accepted by the scientific community. After reviewing these studies, EPA scientists have determined if they are acceptable for use in the regulatory process.
In 1991, EPA began electronically summarizing acceptable studies and has now entered over 23,500 summary records for over 970 pesticide active ingredients into a computerized database called the Pesticide Ecotoxicity Database.
These summary records include endpoint measurements such as the LD50 (the amount or dose of a chemical which kills 50% of the exposed animals) and the NOEL or No Observed Effect Level (the highest concentration of a chemical in a toxicity test that has no significant adverse effect on the exposed population of test animals).
Although most of the toxicity information in this database was compiled from actual studies conducted by commercial laboratories, the database also contains acceptable studies conducted by EPA, USDA, and the Fish and Wildlife Service laboratories and published data which meets the Agency's guideline testing requirements.
The Pesticide Ecotoxicity Database is written in MS Access® and contains 35 fields per record entry. Each record entry summarizes one ecotoxicity study for one species whether it is in a single species study or a multiple species study.
For more information about this database, contact Brian Montague at Montague.Brian@epa.gov or call 703-305-6438.
Pesticide Fate Database
Pesticide Fate Database contains environmental fate and transport data for about 250 pesticide active ingredients.
In determining whether a pesticide can be approved for use in the United States, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) collects and reviews a wide range of scientific studies, including chemical fate and transport studies. These studies describe what happens to a pesticide in soil, water, and air after it has been applied (how it degrades and where it goes) and include the following:
- Product chemistry
- Metabolism
- Hydrolysis
- Photolysis
- Field Dissipation
- Bioaccumulation
- Adsorption/desorption and leaching
Chemical fate and transport studies are designed to help identify which dissipation processes are likely to occur when a pesticide is released into the environment and to characterize the breakdown products that are likely to result from these degradation processes.
Endpoint information (e.g., half-lives) from these studies can now be viewed in OPP's Pesticide Fate Database. The initial version of the database contains 188 pesticide active ingredients. Additional pesticide active ingredients and degradates will be added to the fate database in the near future.
Individuals inside and outside the agency will be able to use this database to model or predict the fate of pesticides in the environment and to develop exposure characterizations that describe the potential exposure of plants, animals, and water resources to pesticide residues.
Questions and comments concerning the database can be sent to the following email address: PFATE comments (PFATE_Comments@epa.gov)