The statement has considered guidance on metals from the ECHA, the European Commission (especially regarding the Water Framework Directive) and the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) as well as guidance developed for environmental risk assessment (ERA) of PPPs by EFSA and the European Commission. The statement outlines appropriate scientific methodology and limitations for assessing transition metals and their compounds used as active substances in PPPs and indicates possible solutions. To provide guidance on the application of any uncertainty factors in the environmental risk assessments when insufficient evidence is available. It is therefore recommended to consider these aspects in any risk management decisions and to align the ERA with the goals of other overarching legislative frameworks. In general, it has to be considered that the prospective risk assessment of metal‐containing PPPs can only cover a defined period as there are limitations in the long‐term hazard assessment due to issues of non‐degradability. Utilisation of the same transition metal in other PPPs or for other uses will lead to accumulation in environmental compartments acting as sinks. If refined approaches have been used in the risk assessment of PPPs containing metals, post‐registration monitoring and controlled long‐term studies should be conducted and assessed. All developments should follow current EFSA guidance documents. Exposure models and scenarios would need to be adapted to address environmental processes and parameters relevant to the fate and behaviour of transition metals in water, sediment and soils (e.g. Simple models that are fit for purpose should be employed in order to avoid unnecessary complexity. Should the first step fail, refined ERA can, in principle, consider bioavailability issues however, non‐equilibrium conditions need to be taken into account. A first assessment step is then performed assuming fully bioavailable residues. They deliver the metal natural background and anthropogenic residue levels to be considered in the exposure calculations. The proposed risk assessment framework starts with a preliminary phase, in which monitoring data on transition metals in relevant environmental compartments are provided. Non‐degradability, essentiality and specific conditions affecting fate and behaviour as well as their toxicity are distinctive characteristics possibly not covered in current guidance for PPPs. iron and copper) used as active substances in plant protection products ( PPPs).
The European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority ( EFSA) to prepare a statement on a framework for the environmental risk assessment ( ERA) of transition metals (e.g.
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