Safe Pesticides/Safe Products Research
Research Programs
Science Overview
Everyday we come into contact with industrial and commercial chemicals in products we use in our homes and workplaces. They are used to put food on our table, provide effective pest control in our gardens, homes and workplaces, and control disease carried by insects and animals.
The Safe Pesticides/Safe Products Research Program in EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) is a multidisciplinary research effort that is providing the methods, models, and data needed by EPA to reduce risks presented from chemicals used in our daily lives. Several laws mandate EPA’s oversight and regulatory responsibilities to reduce risks from chemicals used on food and the use of pesticides. These include the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).
The Safe Pesticides/Safe Products Research Program (SP2) is focused on three long-term goals:
Long-Term Goal 1
To develop improved methods, models, and data for use in conducting human health and environmental risk assessments.
Long-Term Goal 2
To develop the scientific underpinnings necessary to transform ecological risk assessments to a more realistic, probabilistic basis
Long-Term Goal 3
To provide the underlying science needed to evaluate biotechnology products.
Long-Term Goal 1
To develop improved methods, models, and data for use in conducting human health and environmental risk assessments. Research is:- Developing genomic and computational methods for prioritization of regulatory data requirements. This research complements efforts conducted through the National Center for Computational Toxicology in EPA’s Office of Research and Development which is providing new computational toxicology approaches to conducting EPA risk assessments of chemicals.
- Enhancing the ability to interpret data submitted as part of the regulatory process.
- Providing targeted, multidisciplinary research in response to specific research needs of EPA
The research will lead to more efficient and effective testing procedures for analyzing potentially toxic substances and improve risk assessment to protect public health and the environment.
Key science questions being addressed include:
- What methods are needed for priority setting and screening?
- How can existing in silico and in vitro techniques be used to develop effective and efficient screening and prioritization tools? For which endpoints?
- How can existing quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) databases be improved?
- How can improved understanding of pathways of toxicity lead to improved predictive tools?
- What methods are needed that could enhance the interpretation of data from current guidelines?
- How can current guidelines and databases be improved to enhance sensitivity and improve data quality and interpretation?
- Can hypothesis-driven approaches for testing chemicals for multiple toxicity pathways be developed?
- What methods and tools are needed for characterizing the effects and exposures for perfluorinated chemicals and what risk management options are appropriate?
- What protocols are needed for information on the impact of drinking water treatment processes on pesticides?
- How can exposure methods be improved for use in large scale human studies?
Long-Term Goal 2
To develop the scientific underpinnings necessary to transform ecological risk assessments to a more realistic, probabilistic basis where effects can be judged by their impacts at the population level and plant community level.Results of this research will help EPA to develop scientifically valid approaches to extrapolate across species, biological endpoints and exposure scenarios of concern, and to assess spatially-explicit, population-level risks to wildlife populations and nontarget plants and plant communities from pesticides, toxic chemicals and multiple stressors while advancing the development of probabilistic risk assessment.
Key scientific questions being addressed include:
- What methods are needed for extrapolating toxicological data across wildlife species, media, and individual-level response endpoints?
- What methods are needed for characterizing population-level risks of toxic chemicals to aquatic life and wildlife?
- What approaches are needed for evaluating the relative risks from chemical and nonchemical stressors on spatially structured wildlife populations across large areas or regions?
- How can methods to assess direct and indirect risks to non-target plant species and plant communities from the use of chemical herbicides be improved?
- What probabilistic tools can be used to characterize or predict the fate and transport of pesticides and other environmental contaminants?
- How do environmental contaminants move through environmental compartments and become available for human, aquatic, and wildlife exposures?
Long-Term Goal 3
To provide the underlying science needed to evaluate biotechnology products. EPA regulates pesticides created through biotechnology as a part of its regulatory jurisdiction over all pesticides marketed and used in the US. Before making a regulatory decision about genetically engineered plants which produce their own pesticides, known as plant-incorporated protectants (PIPs), EPA considers risks to human health, non-target organisms and the environment, the potential for gene flow, and the need for insect resistance management plans.The results of this research can be used to update EPA requirements of registrants of biotechnology products and to help evaluate submitted data related to these products.
Key science questions being addressed include:
- What are the potential risks of allergenicity to biotechnology products and how can they be evaluated?
- What are the risks to natural ecosystems of gene transfer from engineered organisms to natural species in the wild?
- What methods are needed to mitigate the development of resistance and of gene transfer?