|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Table of Contents
The PAN Pesticide Database brings together a diverse array of information on pesticides from many different sources, providing human toxicity (chronic and acute), ecotoxicity and regulatory information for about 6,400 pesticide active ingredients and their transformation products, as well as adjuvants and solvents used in pesticide products. This database of active ingredients has been integrated with the U.S. EPA product databases, which provide information on formulated products (the form of the pesticide that growers and consumers purchase for use) containing the active ingredients. The information is most complete for pesticides registered for use in the United States. References to data sources can be found by clicking on the underlined term describing the data or by going to the Pesticide Tutorial from the sidebar menu of this page or from the home page. Accuracy of the data To ensure that our data are accurate and have been peer reviewed by scientists, we do not use anecdotal evidence of any sort in the PAN web site. All of our information is backed up by rigorous scientific studies and most of the data are taken from official sources of weight-of-the-evidence-type evaluations when they are available. When official lists do not exist, we have presented a variety of original data sources that refer to the peer-reviewed scientific literature. The specifics are highlighted below for each toxicity type. Techniques Used to Ensure Data Accuracy Most of the toxicity information comes directly from official sources such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), World Health Organization (WHO), National Toxicology Program (NTP), National Institutes of Health (NIH), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the European Union (EU), and the State of California. The fact that most of the data are available in electronic form nearly eliminates the possibility of data entry errors, so if our official data sources are correct, the PAN data are too. Interestingly, what we have found is that these official lists themselves have a number of errors. The fact that we are comparing multiple lists allows us to find and correct errors in identifying numbers, chemical classifications and use types. Because of this extensive cross-comparison between data sets, errors and inconsistencies are quickly found and corrected. Validation and Review For validation and review, the Beta version of every substantial revision of the database is sent to about 200 individuals with a request for feedback and criticism. We typically receive about 50 formal reviews back from chemists, toxicologists, biologists, geologists, activists, and regulators, and modify the database based on their suggestions. In short, we believe our data set of summary pesticide information to be the best one available on the Internet. Where we've interpreted the original information to create summaries or comparisons, we have clearly documented our methods so the technique is transparent and the user can judge for him/herself the validity of the approach. Carcinogenicity We utilize five different sources of carcinogenicity data: The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, California's Proposition 65 list, the U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory list, and the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs List of Chemicals Evaluated for Carcinogenic Potential. The ratings presented are taken directly from the source list and all are based on weight-of-the-evidence evaluations. Cancer data are current as of April 8, 2007. More detail about cancer listings can be found here. Acute Toxicity We utilize up to four different sources of acute toxicity data: The World Health Organization's Hazard Rankings, the U.S. National Toxicology Program acute toxicity data, U.S. EPA ratings (Category I-IV) of technical grade pure active ingredients (where a consensus rating exists) and Material Safety Data sheets. Acute toxicity data are current as of April 8, 2007. More detail about acute toxicity data can be found here. Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Information on reproductive and developmental toxicants is obtained from two sources, the State of California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals and the U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) list. Again, because the data are entered electronically, our list is as correct as the source lists. Reproductive and developmental toxicity data are current as of April 8, 2007. More detail about the Proposition 65 list can be found here and about the U.S. EPA TRI list here. Endocrine Disruption It is more difficult to find an "official" list of endocrine disrupting chemicals, since the U.S. EPA has not yet created such a list, although the screening of chemicals to determine the endocrine-disrupting abilities of a large number of chemicals is in progress. Our endocrine disruptor list was taken from a variety of sources summarizing endocrine disrupting effects of chemicals. All of these summary lists are based on research in the scientific literature where endocrine disrupting effects have been observed for humans or animals. Endocrine disruption data are current as of April 8, 2005. More detail about the endocrine disruptors can be found here. Neurotoxic Cholinesterase Inhibitors The list of cholinesterase inhibitors started with California Department of Pesticide Regulation and U.S. EPA lists; however, these documents only include pesticides registered for use in the U.S. There are many organophosphorus pesticides used in developing countries which we designated as cholinesterase inhibitors based on chemical structure. Because the mechanism of action of the organophosphates and phosphorothioates has been determined, a particular chemical structure can be reliably associated with the toxic effects associated with cholinesterase inhibition. The carbamate pesticides were more difficult, since a slight change in chemical structure renders them inactive as cholinesterase inhibitors. For these, Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) were used to designate a pesticide as a cholinesterase inhibitor. Cholinesterase inhibitor data are current as of April 8, 2005. More detail about cholinesterase inhibitors here. Regulatory Status The regulatory status of a particular chemical (active or cancelled) for the U.S. was taken directly from U.S. EPA's Pesticide Product Information System (PPIS) product data and California Department of Pesticide Regulation's list of active ingredients. U.S. EPA product information data are current as of April 8, 2005, which is EPA's January 2005 product data set. Our information on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) and Persistent Organic Pollutant chemicals is from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) web sites and is current as of April 8, 2005. Information on active ingredients registered for use in countries around the world was obtained from the appropriate government authority. The currency of each of these data sets is provided in the references section of each country page. More detail about regulatory information here. Ecotoxicity All Ecotoxicity information is taken from the U.S. EPA AQUIRE database. We have simplified the data somewhat by summarizing some information (see below in Value-Added Features), but the original data are available for the user to evaluate as well. The ecotoxicity data are the latest available as of April 8, 2005, which is the January 2004 data set. More details about ecotoxicity can be found here. California Pesticide Use Reporting Data We obtain the California PUR data directly from the Deparment of Pesticide Regulation and do a number of data processing steps to clean up the data and summarize the information by all combinations of crop, chemical, and location. Our methodology for processing the data is described in detail here. The data include all years from 1991 through 2003. The California PUR data are current as of April 8, 2005. We anticipate the 2004 data to be released near the end of 2005. Value-Added Features Two additional features of the database are a result of our own work, rather than simply bringing existing lists together. These are the Ecotoxicity Summaries and the Parent Chemical/Related chemical groupings. The Ecotoxicity
Summaries provide a narrative ranking of toxicity by both organism
group and by species. For example, a look at the Chemical Information
page for Diazinon shows the following summary information by organism
group:
By giving both the range and the average rating, a summary view is provided with no loss of the extreme ends of the data set. The original data are also just one click away, where the user can view each individual study. Summaries are also provided by species. Details on how the summaries were created can be found here. Parent/Related Chemical Groupings The Parent/Related Chemical groupings provide the user with information about related chemicals. Many compounds in the database are chemically similar to each other; however, typically only one of a group of similar compounds has been evaluated for its toxicological properties. We call this compound the "parent." In many (but not all) cases, other related chemicals will have similar toxicological effects and/or similar chemical reactivity. We wanted to formally group similar compounds to make it possible for the user to:
The Chemical Classification (organophosphorus compounds, urea compounds, etc.) is one way of broadly categorizing chemicals. By creating Parent/Related Chemical rollup categories, we have taken this classification scheme to a finer level of detail. Details about how Parent/Related Chemical groups were assigned can be found here. Definitions and References All data sources are fully referenced, and an enterprising user will be able to very quickly obtain the original data sets. The Pesticide Tutorial overview page provides an index to the different data sets, also accessible by clicking on any of the underlined terms on the data pages. The reference documents define the terms, cite the data sources, and discuss the accuracy, currency, and comprehensiveness of each source. There are also links to the original data source, if the data are on the web. The Water & Pesticides Information Center The Water & Pesticides Information Center (WaterPIC) brings together California Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR), surface water sampling, and water quality standard information in one site. Based on geographic area, time period, and pesticide selections, the WaterPIC dynamically generates data tables and graphs that can be used to understand relationships been pesticide uses and surface water pesticide concentrations. The About the WaterPIC Data pages provide details about the original data sources, quality control measures, and methods used to analyze and compile this information. For instruction on how to use the WaterPIC, please see the Pesticide Tutorial pages. Last updated April 6, 2007 .
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
