FAO.org

From 8 – 10 December 2015, FAO hosted a working group on ground- and surface water risk assessment. Aquatic organisms, such as fish, shrimp and crayfish, tend to be very sensitive to many types of pesticides, and a surface water risk assessment is therefore part of the evaluation of a new pesticide registration. Similarly, certain pesticides may contaminate groundwater and adversely affect drinking water sources. A working group of about 10 international experts and regulators met at FAO headquarters in Rome to discuss risk assessment methods for ground- and surface water. They identified methods that can be applied by registration authorities with limited resources, and their recommendations will be incorporated in the FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit.