Environmental Fate & Metabolism

The importance of Environmental Fate & Metabolism Studies

Environmental fate studies are key to providing the data required by chemical companies to complete thorough environmental risk assessments (ERA). They provide information on the fate and behaviour of chemical products in the environment, and contribute to the determination of the risk posed to human and environmental health. Metabolism studies are conducted to determine the behaviour of a test substance and the nature of residues in animals and plants so we can understand the potential for human dietary exposure..

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Environmental Fate Studies

Developing a detailed understanding of environmental fate processes is critical for the successful completion of an environmental exposure assessment so that predicted environmental concentrations for a range of environmental compartments can be determined.

Animal Metabolism Studies

Whether it is through the potential uptake from feed or via the therapeutic application to animals it is important to determine the adsorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of chemicals so potential human dietary exposure can be determined.

Plant Metabolism Studies

Crop species can be exposed to agrochemicals either through direct application or through the uptake of residues from soil. Determination of the metabolism and residues formed in the crop from this exposure is important in determining potential human dietary uptake.

Plant Uptake Studies

The determination of the extent of uptake of a chemical by plants can reduce the amount available in soil to leach and therefore offers an option to reduce the predicted concentrations when performing groundwater exposure modelling.

Aged Sorption Studies

Lower tiers of exposure assessment assume adsorption to soil is instantaneous and reversible and often this is not the case, aged sorption studies allow exposure assessments for groundwater and surface water to be refined to include enhanced adsorption that occurs over longer times periods.

Regulatory Risk Assessment

Access to experienced senior scientists across a comprehensive range of regulatory science disciplines, we understand the legislative frameworks and the scientific requirements and are uniquely positioned to assist you meet the regulatory requirements.

By Sector

Plant Protection Products (PPP)

See how Fera can help you expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe use of crop protection products.

Work with a partner you can rely on.

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Veterinary Medicines

Working with world-class facilities and instrumentation, applying decades of experience in regulatory consultancy to empower you to meet your veterinary medicines challenges.

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If you are a company developing veterinary products or plant protection products (PPPs), it’s essential that you fully assess the risks posed by your products to the wider environment and natural ecosystems. In the face of ever-tightening regulation and restrictions on the chemical options available, Fera can help you to develop effective, sustainable products that minimise ecosystem and human impact, while maximising the beneficial effects for crops and livestock.

Our services and expertise provide essential support on your road to successful product registrations and ongoing due diligence – whether for pesticides, veterinary medicines, feed additives or pharmaceuticals. We provide a range of services from single studies to complex, whole programmes, including support of your dossier preparation and submission. An understanding of environmental fate and metabolism processes can ensure that your applications are not only effective, but are also environmentally safe, providing you with the data you need to make product development decisions and obtain product registrations. Our multidisciplinary teams combine decades of agrochemical and veterinary medicine industry experience with world-class technical expertise and analytical capabilities. We operate in GLP-compliant facilities within the UK providing regulatory compliant studies for submission in all geographic regions.

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Our services

Fera’s environmental fate capabilities include a comprehensive range of regulatory compliant studies following established international guidelines (e.g. OECD). Studies exploring the biodegradation rate and route of chemicals in a range of environmental matrices including soil, surface water, sediment, manure and activated sludge, are complemented with studies exploring the sorption behaviour, hydrolysis and photolysis to ensure we can provide all the experimental data you require for your environmental exposure assessments. With improved in-life capacity, we can offer the entire spectrum of laboratory environmental fate studies maintained at either 12 ^oC or 20 ^oC. We’re committed to helping clients generate the evidence necessary to get more products to market and keep them there with investment in our people and more efficient equipment to provide bespoke and innovative solutions.

Our investment in our radio-HPLC lab provides customers with a better quality and cost-effective service. With investment in SoFie™ modules we can detect lower levels of radioactivity due to the stop-flow mechanism. With improved sensitivity of signal to noise SoFie™ gives better counting statistics without adversely affecting the chromatography.

While offering the full suite of standard guideline environmental fate and metabolism studies, we can also adapt and revise the study designs to offer a range of bespoke solutions, to answer your regulatory questions. Our scientists will work with you to understand the requirements of your data requirement and can amend the test design and analysis to suit the analyte in question. Our expert team supports you through the entire regulatory process, from experimental design, support with test item synthesis, to on time study report delivery and supporting you should you subsequently receive any regulatory questions.

Meet some of the team

Eleanor Walker

Eleanor is the Environmental Fate and Metabolism Laboratory Manager at Fera ensuring the laboratories and procedures performed are GLP compliant. Eleanor makes sure that the work produced is of high quality and actively investigates the improvement of our capabilities to suit customer requirements.

Phil Rooney

Phil is the senior environmental fate scientist for chemical safety at Fera with 10 years’ experience in the area. With a background in biochemistry, Phil manages commercial and research projects within the environmental fate and behaviour sector.

Victoria Pratt

Victoria is a Senior Environmental Fate Scientist for chemical safety at Fera. With a background in chemistry, Victoria performs the role of GLP study director for commercial and research projects within the environmental fate and behaviour sector.

GLP-compliant laboratories

Our laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that enable cost-effective GLP-compliant environmental fate and metabolism studies to be performed, in line with all regulatory requirements, including:

Laboratory (GLP) analytical services for agrochemicals, biocides, and veterinary medicinal products.
Laboratory studies with radio-labelled and non-radiolabelled chemicals.
Sorption studies, batch equilibrium, aged sorption and column leaching according to appropriate guidelines
Biodegradation studies in soil, surface water, sediment, manure and activated sludge to determine biodegradability, degradation rate and route.
Hard (man-made) surfaces environmental fate studies, including lab-scale sorption, wash-off and field monitoring studies.
Field studies including surface water monitoring and field dissipation.
Find out more about the facilities we have onsite at Fera - click the link below;

Our facilities