This presentation will provide an overview of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) framework for assessing risk of the use of conventional pesticides to bees. The EPA has been assessing risk to bees for more than 30 years; however, after a large number of colony losses in 2007, work began to enhance the risk assessment process for bees, mitigate risks, and increase outreach and communication. The EPA, in collaboration with Canada’s Pesticide Management Regulatory Authority, and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation developed framework for assessing pesticide risk to bees in 2014. That framework consists of a tiered process where at Tier 1 conservative exposure assumptions are compared to acute and chronic toxicity endpoints for individual larval and adult honey bees (Apis mellifera). The ratio of point estimates of exposure and toxicity are then compared to regulatory thresholds (i.e., levels of concern; LOCs). If there is a potential for risk at Tier 1 (i.e., ratios &gt;LOC), colony-level semi-field or full-field studies may be required and/or exposure estimates may be refined with measured pesticide concentrations in pollen, nectar, and plants during higher-tier studies. EPA is continuing to rely on honey bees as a surrogate for non-Apis bees; however, data on other species are considered in the risk assessment when available. EPA and other regulatory authorities continue to enhance the risk assessment process for bees by refining toxicity testing methods, improving exposure estimates, and considering whether honey bees continue to serve as suitable surrogates for non-Apis bees or whether more targeted assessments may be warranted.

Overview of the framework for assessing risk of pesticides to bees in the United States

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