Ecotoxicological soil risk assessment under the new soil exposure framework - an impact assessment.

For the European risk assessment (RA) for soil organisms exposed to plant protection products (PPPs) endpoints from ecotoxicological laboratory studies are compared with predicted environmental concentrations in soil (PEC) at first tier. A safety margin must be met; otherwise, a higher tier RA is triggered (usually soil organism field studies). A new tiered exposure modeling guidance was published by EFSA to determine PEC.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and the Need for a Meaningful Regulatory Plant Protection Product Testing Strategy.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) perform key soil ecosystem services and, because of their symbiotic relationship with plant roots, may be exposed to the plant protection products (PPPs) applied to soils and crops. In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a scientific opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of PPPs for in-soil organisms, recommending the inclusion of AMF ecotoxicological testing in the PPP regulatory process. However, it is not clear how this can be implemented in a tiered, robust, and ecologically relevant manner.

Investigating the role of soil mesofauna abundance and biodiversity for organic matter breakdown in arable fields.

Intact soil food webs are pivotal to maintaining essential soil functions, such as carbon recycling, sequestering, and biomass production. Although the functional role of micro- (e.g.

Determining the influence of rainfall patterns and carbendazim on the surface activity of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris.

Carbendazim is highly toxic to earthworms and is used as a standard control substance when running field-based trials of pesticides, but results using carbendazim are highly variable. In the present study, impacts of timing of rainfall events following carbendazim application on earthworms were investigated. Lumbricus terrestris were maintained in soil columns to which carbendazim and then deionized water (a rainfall substitute) were applied.

The soil-dwelling earthworm Allolobophora chlorotica modifies its burrowing behaviour in response to carbendazim applications.

Carbendazim-amended soil was placed above or below unamended soil. Control tests comprised two layers of unamended soil. Allolobophora chlorotica earthworms were added to either the upper or the unamended soil.