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Environmental Databases
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 18,000 summary records for about 805 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 DBase and contains 32 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.
EIIS (Ecological Incident Information System)
EIIS includes the data and location of the incident, type and magnitude of effects observed in various species, use(s) of pesticides known or suspected of contributing to the incident, and the results of any chemical residue and cholinesterase activity analyses conducted during the incident investigation.
After a field has been treated with pesticides, wildlife may be exposed to these chemicals by several routes. When the exposure is high relative to the toxicity of the pesticide, wildlife may be killed or visibly incapacitated. Such events are called ecological incidents.
Many of these ecological incidents are probably not observed or reported, but when they are reported to the proper authority (usually a state agency), they are investigated and an incident report is generated.
In 1992, the Agency created a database called The Ecological Incident Information System (EIIS) to store information extracted from these incident reports.
The two primary sources of incident reports are pesticide registrants and government agencies. Under section 6(a)(2) of the pesticide law FIFRA, pesticide registrants or manufacturers are required to report to EPA any information related to known adverse effects to the environment caused by their registered pesticides.
The second major source of information is investigative reports which are voluntarily submitted to the Agency from state and other federal agencies that oversee agriculture, wildlife, natural resources, and environmental quality. Diagnostic reports are also obtained from the National Wildlife Health Institute (USGS), the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (USGS), the Southwest Wildlife Cooperative Disease Study, and state wildlife forensic laboratories. Information is also extracted from accounts of ecological incidents reported in newspapers and reliable internet sources.
The EIIS was originally built in dBase III Plus, but was recently converted into a Lotus Approach application. It is a relational database consisting of 89 distinct fields contained within 13 related data tables.
Information in EIIS records, if available, include the data and location of the incident, type and magnitude of affects observed in various species, use(s) of pesticides known or suspected of contributing to the incident, and the results of any chemical residue and cholinesterase activity analyses conducted during the incident investigation.
Ecological incidents play an important role in the Agency's risk assessment and decision-making process. Widespread ecological incidents for a pesticide may confirm a risk that was predicted by risk assessment models, or it may indicate that the actual risk is greater or less than that predicted by the model.
For more information on this database, contact Nicholas Mastrota at Mastrota.Nicholas@epa.gov or call 703-305-5247.
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)