Abstract |
In June 2006, the Ecological Risk Assessment Forum (ERAF) submitted a request to ORD's Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center (ERASC) to evaluate the effectiveness and utility of the European Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) Risk Assessment Scheme for Plant Protection Products (i.e., pesticides) for its ability to estimate the degree of exposure to songbirds from contaminants in soil. Specifically, are methods and information used for understanding avian exposure to pesticide granules useful for estimating the probability of ingesting other contaminated particles such as lead shot or fragments. An important route of chemical exposure in many ecological risk assessments is the ingestion of chemicals on or in sediments, soil and small gravel (i.e., grit). Several approaches have been developed to address this route of exposure in risk assessments. The particular focus for this white paper is to evaluate approaches available for estimating the risk to birds from ingestion of lead shot or other lead fragments (hereafter referred to as lead particles). There are many similarities between lead particle ingestion and the ingestion of pesticide granules as grit or food items. |