Pesticide soil microbial toxicity: setting the scene for a new pesticide risk assessment for soil microorganisms (IUPAC Technical Report)

Abstract Pesticides constitute an integral part of modern agriculture. However, there are still concerns about their effects on non-target organisms. To address this the European Commission has imposed a stringent regulatory scheme for new pesticide compounds. Assessment aquatic toxicity pesticides is based range advanced tests. This does not apply to terrestrial ecosystems, where soil microorganisms, outdated and crude test (N mineralization). gap reinforced by recent methodological standardization advances in microbial ecology. The inclusion such standardized tools revised risk assessment will enable accurate estimation microorganisms associated ecosystem services. In review we (i) summarize work point ammonia-oxidizing (AOM) arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as most relevant bioindicator groups (ii) identify limitations experimental approaches used propose mitigation solutions, (iii) scientific gaps (iv) procedure assess microorganisms.