ANSES Survey
Pesticides in Ambient Air
Maisons-Alfort (France), 12 June 2015
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY :
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR EVALUATING PESTICIDES IN AMBIENT AIR
In France, some data on pesticides air contamination have been collected for more than 10
years, through local and specific campaigns. Nevertheless, due to the lack of regulation on
the monitoring of pesticides in ambient air, knowledge on this is still sparse and
heterogeneous. Therefore, assessing the exposures of the general population to pesticides
in air and the associated risk is currently difficult to perform.
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES)
provides expert scientific support to the French ministries in order to contribute to the
definition of a possible national monitoring of pesticides in ambient air. Data collected
through such a monitoring scheme would improve, in the long-term, the knowledge on air
contamination by pesticides and on exposure of the general population.
In this framework, ANSES will have to make recommendations on a:
- List of 10 – 20 relevant substances to be monitored ;
- Appropriate sampling and analytical methods ;
- Relevant sampling plan.
This international consultation aims to identify methodological approaches and tools
implemented for assessing concentrations of pesticides in ambient air, with a focus on
measurement campaigns at a local, regional or national level, and which have been / are
carried out upon the request of a public authority or through its funding.
Collecting such information will support ANSES in its methodological choices (for example in
terms of population groups, substances, sampling plan and/or analytical methods) to issue
recommendations for a harmonized monitoring of pesticides in ambient air in France.
We would like to collect information that can be useful for our work and/or identify a relevant
contact person. A questionnaire has been drawn up to facilitate this information collection. It
focuses on the following issues:
1.
Monitoring and assessment of pesticide levels in ambient air,
2.
Human biomonitoring of pesticides,
3.
Sampling and analytical methods
Depending on your answers, we may contact you again in order to get more details.
This consultation covers European countries and North America.
The results of this questionnaire will be analysed for the next expert report of ANSES’s
working group on “Pesticides in Ambient Air”. This report will be published on our website
(www.anses.fr) in 2016. We would appreciate it if you could answer the following questions
before 10 July 2015 and return this form, together with any documents (scientific
publication, expert report, research programme, links to websites, etc.) that you think may be
useful, to Ms Carole LEROUX carole.leroux@anses.fr and Ms Salma ELREEDY
salma.elreedy@anses.fr .
Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail/ French Agency for Food, Environmental and
Occupational Health & Safety
14 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 94701 Maisons-Alfort Cedex FRANCE
Téléphone : + 33 (0)1 49 77 13 50 - Télécopie : + 33 (0)1 49 77 26 26 - www.anses.fr
Anses Survey
Pesticides in Ambient Air
INTERNATIONAL SURVEY:
QUESTIONS
1. Are you aware of past or on-going work in your country related to the assessment
of pesticides in ambient air?
a) If yes, what are the features of this work?
Is it a regulated monitoring? If yes:
Which organization is responsible of this monitoring?
Can you send us regulatory texts associated with this monitoring?
Are data collected in this framework based on concentrations measurement in air?
Can you send us documents relating to the work and/or contact details of a resource
person?
Is it voluntary and/or occasional campaign? If yes:
Which organization is responsible of these campaigns?
Are data collected in this framework based on concentration measurements in air?
Can you send us documents relating to the work and / or contact details of a resource
person?
b) If yes, what are the objectives of this work?
Are the data collected in order to evaluate population exposures and related risks?
Can you give us some more information on the methodological choices :
Was a prioritization implemented to select substances which to focus on?
What were the targeted populations: workers (give some details: farmers, agricultural
workers…)? General population (give some details: residents, by-standers ….)?
Was this work focused only on pesticides used in agriculture or were other uses also
targeted (biocides for example)?
c) If not, is there a current reflection in your country on the implementation of such
monitoring? If yes, what are the features and deadlines for this implementation?
2. Are you aware of past or on-going work in your country related to pesticide
exposure assessment based on human biomonitoring?
a) If yes, can you give us some more information of methodological choices:
Was a prioritization implemented to select which the substances to focus on?
What were the targeted populations: workers (give some details: farmers, agricultural
workers…)? General population (give some details: residents, by-standers ….)?
Was the work focused only on pesticides used in agriculture or were other uses targeted
(biocides for example)?
b) If yes, can you send us documents relating to the work and / or contact details of a
resource person?
3. Is there a standard in your country for the sampling and/or analysis of pesticides in
ambient air? If yes, can you send us related documents?
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