Volker discussing demands of the agro chemicals industry and influences in future regulation

Mr Volker Bornemann recently accepted the the organizer interview in the conference of European forum on environmental science. Below is the content of interview.

Q. Volker, you have been involved in environmental testing for nearly 3 decades now. How have the demands of the agro chemicals industry changed during this time and how have these demands been met by new technologies?

"New guidelines and regulatory requirements are continuously evolving and changing our regulatory science landscape. Most recently, the new EC Regulation 1107/2009 went into effect, new test guidelines for fish metabolism are being developed and the OECD harmonized a whole set of residue and metabolism test guidelines. In addition, instrument manufacturers and chromatography suppliers are continuously improving their products and recent advances in mass spectrometry provide the regulatory scientists with new tools, allowing for more accurate and specific measurements, for example in the structure elucidation of unknown metabolites."

Q. Can you explain the rationale behind this conference? Why do you feel it is so topical?

"The metabolism and degradation studies form the basis of essentially every pesticide registration data package. The information from these studies allows regulatory scientists, risk assessors, and regulators to decide, which molecules the consumer or environment may be exposed to and thus derive a residue definition. Despite its central importance and complexity, this topic has traditionally been covered only on the side lines of large scientific symposia or in small, dedicated workshops. We hope to create a new forum where regulatory scientists from the crop protection industry, contract research organizations, regulatory authorities and other institutions can come together, share their knowledge and experience, and learn about state-of-the-art study design, procedures and technology applications."

Q. In what way do you hope that this conference will influence future regulation in environmental testing?

"By bringing regulatory scientists of different disciplines and regulators together for this important scientific dialogue, I hope that the scientifically based risk assessment approach to regulation gets further strengthened into the future and that regulatory decisions continue to be based on sound, state-of-the-art science."

Q.Finally, what do you hope to gain from your participation at the conference?

"I am looking forward to learn about several new, emerging technologies, hear the latest developments and future trends directly from the experts, and last but not least, meet some old friends and hopefully make some new ones."