Assessment of exposure of operators, workers, residents and bystanders

As stated in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, plant protection products shall only be authorised if they do not present unacceptable risks to human health when used correctly and for the intended purpose.

The EFSA guideline "Guidance on the assessment of operators, workers, residents and bystanders in risk assessment for plant protection products” of 24 April 2015 serves as a reference for the estimation of exposure of operators, workers, residents and bystanders. The guideline shall apply to all applications for the authorisation of plant protection products.

The EFSA guideline should help risk assessors and applicants to estimate the exposure of operators, workers, residents and bystanders to plant protection products under their appropriate and intended conditions of use. Therefore, the risk assessments of each plant protection product are carried out in a tiered approach.

A revised version of the EFSA Guidance was published in January 2022. At the same time, the exposure model (EFSA Calculator) was updated. The new version can be used immediately. It is available as an online version. For applications submitted from 1 January 2023, the updated version is mandatory.

The EFSA guideline provides a harmonised approach to regulatory risk assessment. Applicants are supported in estimating the exposure of users, workers, residents and bystanders to plant protection products on the basis of the applications and summarising it in a report.