Assessing the Risks to Bats from Plant Protection Products: A Review of the Recent European Food Safety Authority Statement Regarding Toxicity and Exposure Routes.

Wild birds and mammals that feed in agricultural habitats are potentially exposed to pesticides through various routes. Until recently, it has been implicitly assumed that the existing European Union risk assessment scheme for birds and mammals also covered bats (Chiroptera). However, recent publications raised concerns and, in 2019, a scientific statement was published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that concluded that bats were not adequately covered by the current risk assessment scheme. We review the evidence presented and assumptions made in the EFSA bat statement relating to toxicity, bioaccumulation, and exposure pathways (oral, dermal, and inhalation), in terms of their relevance for bats potentially foraging in agricultural areas in the European Union; we highlight where uncertainties remain and how these could be addressed. Based on our review, it is clear that there is still much uncertainty with regard to the appropriateness of the assumptions made in the EFSA bat statement. Significantly more information needs to be gathered to answer fundamental questions regarding bat behavior in agricultural landscapes, together with the relative sensitivity of bats to pesticide exposure. Given the current critical information gaps, it is recommended that quantitative risk assessments for bats not be performed for pesticides until more robust, reliable, and relevant data are available. The risk to bats can then be compared with that for birds and ground-dwelling mammals, to determine the protectiveness of the existing scheme and thus whether a bat scenario is indeed required and under what circumstances. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:2978-2989. © 2021 Cambridge Environmental Assessments, part of RSK ADAS Ltd. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Clinical and radiographic manifestations of uncommon pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease in AIDS patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical and radiographic findings of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) other than Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and Mycobacterium kansasii in AIDS compared with non-AIDS patients. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review of all patients in whom NTM other than MAC complex and M kansasii were isolated between April 1, 1989, and October 31, 1995. SETTING: University-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: Fifty-four patients met the criteria for uncommon pulmonary NTM disease: (1) repeated isolation of atypical mycobacterium in colony counts of > or = 3 from two or more sputum specimens; or isolation of the organism from transbronchial or open lung biopsy specimen with histologic changes suggestive of mycobacterial disease in the absence of other pathogens; and (2) either an abnormal chest radiograph, the cause of which had not been attributed to an active infection other than atypical mycobacterial disease; or the presence of one or more symptoms indicative of pulmonary disease coupled with exclusion of other illnesses with similar symptoms and signs. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients were HIV positive. Fever was the only clinical symptom more commonly seen in HIV-infected patients with NTM than non-HIV-infected patients. Sixty-six percent of all patients with AIDS were infected by Mycobacterium xenopi. Chest radiographs of AIDS patients showed a tendency for predominance of interstitial infiltrate and rarity of fibronodular disease. No specific radiographic pattern was observed for any particular organism. Adenopathy was not a feature of uncommon pulmonary NTM in AIDS, and it should suggest an alternate diagnosis. In two patients, NTM isolation from respiratory specimens preceded dissemination. Six of 8 AIDS patients treated for pulmonary NTM remained alive at the end of the study compared with only 4 of 15 patients who were not treated for pulmonary NTM (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Uncommon NTM isolated from respiratory specimens ought to be considered as serious pathogens in the presence of clinical and radiographic manifestations unexplained by other pathologic processes. Colonization with NTM could precede dissemination. Treatment of uncommon pulmonary NTM disease could possibly confer a survival benefit in AIDS patients.