Peer Review

In an effort to confirm its scientific approach, ARTF sponsored a Peer Review of its methods. In October 2000, ten experts in areas such as, exposure, agronomy, and statistics, convened to review and discuss the ARTF approach and methods and how ARTF has responded to EPA’s Data Call-In.

ARTF received a positive response from the peer reviewers, along with some suggestions to confirm ARTF has developed a scientifically sound database of generic transfer coefficients to use for risk assessments. In response, ARTF performed several statistical analyses to confirm the cluster assignments of the various crop/activities, and to better define the confidence limits on mean TCs. The reviewers concluded that the ARTF database framework is very appropriate for current risk assessments and the data are of significantly higher quality than that on which current regulatory default values are based.

As the field studies were completed, ARTF submitted them to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency. These agencies are actively reviewing the data.