Water: Aquatic Life
Aquatic Life: Common Effects Methodology
You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Both the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and the Office of Water (OW) assess the effects of pesticides on aquatic ecosystems using approaches that afford a high degree of protection for aquatic life and that were developed with high quality data using rigorously peer-reviewed assessment methodologies. In characterizing pesticide effects, both programs consider acute effects as well as chronic and sub-lethal effects on growth, survival, and reproduction in their assessments. Reference documents highlight these approaches. Stakeholders have identified a need for consistent and timely Federal input that will allow EPA, states, tribes and the public to gauge whether pesticides represent a concern for aquatic life, for example, based on water monitoring results.
- Continue to be based upon sound science and utilize the available data,
- Are legally defensible under our statutory mandates,
- Will be based upon methodologies that are as consistent and practical as possible,
- Are implementable at the federal and state level,
- Are developed as quickly and efficiently as possible, and
- Reflect stakeholder input and comments .
National Stakeholder Meeting
- Exploration of Methods for Characterizing Effects of Chemical Stressors to Aquatic Animals (PDF) (54 pp, 433K);
- Predicting the Toxicities of Chemicals to Aquatic Animal Species (PDF) (127 pp, 2.52MB); and
- Exploration of Methods for Characterizing Effects of Chemical Stressors to Aquatic Plants (PDF) (56 pp, 425K).
Agenda (1 pp, 10K)
- Tools White Paper Presentation (32 pp, 1.6MB)
- Animal Methods White Paper Presentation (42 pp, 664K)
- Plant Methods White Paper Presentation (26 pp, 4.49MB)
Regional Stakeholder Meetings
January 11-22, 2010
Next Steps (PPT) (9 pp, 344K)