US EPA to hold Scientific Advisory Panel on organophosphates pesticides in September

In September 2020, EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) plans to convene a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) on activities that could inform human health risk assessment for organophosphate pesticides and reduce animal testing.

Consistent with the EPA administrator's directive to reduce animal testing, EPA is developing and implementing new approach methodologies (NAMs) using methods such as in vitro techniques and computational approaches. Using NAMs can provide the opportunity to incorporate information relevant to humans.

OPP is considering using in vitro data for 16 organophosphate compounds to potentially reduce reliance on default risk assessment uncertainty factors in favor of more refined data-derived factors. Additionally, EPA's Office of Research and Development is working to develop a NAM for evaluating developmental neurotoxicity. Initial analyses of data derived from neuron cell models have been completed for organophosphate compounds as a case study and, when possible, compared to in vivo results (an in vitro to in vivo extrapolation).

These approaches will be presented to the SAP at the September meeting for its consideration and advice. External review and public comment on the research will help build confidence to implement the NAMs in EPA's human health risk assessments and may contribute to refining them.