Development of REACH Generic Exposure Scenarios for Substances Used as Coformulants in Plant Protection Products

This article reviews the interactions between the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Autho- rization and restriction of Chemicals) regulation and the plant protection product regulation for substances used as coformulants in the European Union, and describes generic exposure scenarios developed for their exposure and risk assessment. The REACH exposure scenarios describe the operational conditions and risk management measures used in the risk assess- ment of a coformulant, and as such these translate as the boundaries of safe use. The generic exposure scenarios are designed to be simple, and closely integrate with REACH use de- scriptors and customized exposure models. Clustering of application methods and exposure determinants resulted in four generic exposure scenarios, each covering professional work- ers or consumers, and application of products in liquid, granular form, or applied on seeds. When used in conjunction with appropriate exposure models, the generic exposure scenar- ios support efficient first-tier risk assessment of coformulants by utilizing a higher level of abstraction and conservatism than typically used in plant protection product assessments.