# Eco logic al Risk Assessmen t Process fo r Honey Bees **1** U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency 

### Thomas Moriarty

, Pe sticide R eevaluation Division Office of P es ticide Pr ograms

# Overview • 

### Over view of P ollinator Declines • 

### International and Domestic E ffo rts to R efine Exposur e/E ffects and Risk Assessment Methods • 

### Curr en t Risk Assessmen t Pr ocess U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **2**

• 

### Curr en t Risk Assessmen t Pr ocess • 

### Pr oblem Fo rmulation and Pr otection Goals • 

### Apis vs. non -Apis Bees • 

### Charge Q ues tions

# Overview of P ollina to r Declines and Fa ctors Associa te d with Declines
• 

### National Ac adem y of Science 2006 re port on the status of pollinator s in North America ; re ported that in ge ner al, pollinator s ar e in decline • 

### Pa ra sites and Va rr oa Mit es U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **3**

• 

### Pa ra sites and Va rr oa Mit es • 

### Diseases • 

### Nutritional st re ss • 

### Pe st icides • 

### Pa ra llel declines in pollinator s and insect - pollinated plants re ported in Britain and the Netherlands. • 

### .

# Po llina to r Declines
• Declines in managed honey bee colonies • Appr ox imately 6 mill. in 1947 to r oughly 2.8 million in 2006 • Intr oduction of mit es in 1980’ s U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **4**
in 1980’ s • 2007 incr ease in average colon y

# Po llina to r Declines U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **5** 

### Agricultur**al Pr** **actices Disease/P**  **ar asit**  **es** Bact eria Fungi Nosema Viruses 

### Urbaniz **ation Pe**  **sticides Nutrition**  Source: USDA Agricultural Research Service

Other Insects Pa ra sites 

### Bee Managemen **t Pr actices** 

# Domestic and In te rna tional Ef fo rts toRefine Risk Assessmen t Methods fo r Bees • 

### USD A Wo rk shop • 

### Society of En vir onmen ta l To xicology and Chemis try (SET AC) Pe lls ton • 

### International Commission for Plan t - Bee R ela tionships (ICP - BR) • 

### Eur opean and Mediterr anean Orga niz ation for Plan t Pr otection U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **6**

• 

### Eur opean and Mediterr anean Orga niz ation for Plan t Pr otection (EPP0) • 

### Pr evention of Colon y Losses (COLOSS) • 

### Orga niz ation for E conomic Cooper ation and Development (OECD) Pe st icide Ef

fe cts on Insect P ollinator (PEIP) Workgr oup • 

### Eur opean F ood Safety Authority (EF SA)

# EP A Risk Assessmen t Process • 

### Qualit ative haz ar d Assessmen t • Acut e Contact T

ox icity (850.3020) • Individual bees • Yo ung adult bees • To xicity of R esidues on Foliage T es t (850.3030) • RT25 U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **7**

• RT25 • Field P ollinator To xicity T es t (850.3040) • Colon y - level • NO AE C/LOA EC • 

### Interim Guidance on Honey Bee Data R equir emen ts • Ef fe cts • Acut e oral/semi - field studies • Exposur e • Re sidues in pollen/nect arU.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **8**

# Prot ection Goals
• Management or Protection goals ar e s tatements about the desir ed condition of ecological v alues of concern. • Defined, in part, by the laws which pr ovide s tat ut ory authority t o r egula te pes ticides. U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **9**

• Generic Protection Goals r eflect s tat ut ory and scientific objectiv es of a re gula tory agency. • Specific Pr otection Goals pr ovide guidance at the risk assessment level. • Inform decisions about the type of dat a which ar e consider ed • Provide a basis for crit eria used in det ermining need for additional refinements

# Prot ection Goals Re lative to pesticide risk assessmen t for pollinator s, specific pr otection goals ma y include : • 

### Po llination Ser vices U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **10**

• 

### Honey/hiv e pr oducts • 

### Biodiv er sity

# Assessmen t Endpoin ts • 

### Va lued en tity (r ecept or) • 

### Att ribut e or char act eris tic that is important to pr otect and is potentially at risk • 

### Assessmen t endpoin ts should be: • Eco logic ally relev an t U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **11**

• Eco logic ally relev an t • Susceptible t o pot en tial stressor (pesticide) • Re lev an t t o manag emen t goals • 

### Measur emen t endpoin ts pr ovide specific information that informs one or mor e assessmen t endpoint.

# Assessmen t Endpoin ts U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **12**

# Apis ve rs us non -

Apis Bees
• Primary focus of the pr oposed risk assessment fr amework is on honey bees (Apis mellifera ) • EP A r egularly makes use of surr og ate species t o r epr esent a br oader ra nge of org anisms/tax a. • Surr ogates selected based on their ability to thrive under laboratory/field study conditions • Re asonably sensitive indicator s of to xicity U.S. Environmental Pr otection Agency **13**

• Proposed pr ocess employs measur ements of exposure and ef fe cts that are re levant to both Apis and non -Apis bees. • Scr eening level e xposur e measur es (dermal and oral) ar e re levant to both Apis and non - Apis species • Scr eening - level toxicity endpoints, based on individual bees, ar e adequately r eflective and pr otective for non -Apis bees. • Proposed pr ocess is consistent with pr ocess used for other tax a, and supports the identified specific pr otection goals, as well as the Agency ’s g eneric pr otection goals.