The Pesticide Science Society of Japan promotes research and outreach activities through special committees. The following seven special committees are organized by the society members.
Special Committee on Pesticide Residue Analysis
Special Committee on Agricultural Formulation and Application
Special Committee on Environmental Pesticide Science
Special Committee on Bioactivity of Pesticides
Special Committee on Pesticide Design
Special Committee on Pesticide Regulatory Science
Special Committee on Agrochemical Bioscience
Special Committee on Pesticide Residue Analysis
The Pesticide Residue Analysis Committee was started in 1975 with establishment of the Pesticide Science Society of Japan. The committee members are from National and Local Agricultural Research Centers, Institutes of Public Health, Contract Laboratories, Food Manufacturers, Co-operative Agencies etc. A workshop is held every autumn.
Recently, maintaining food safety is a significant concern of consumers. Problems with use of unregistered pesticides and the violation of pesticide residue standards by imported crops have happened. Consumers are afraid that pesticide residues contaminate foods. The aim of the committee is to present and discuss methods for development and monitoring of pesticide residues in foods, water and soil. Our members can obtain new information on convenient analytical technology and ways to solve problems with analytical methods and samples for enforcement of the skills of all members.
The committee also has the opportunity to discuss the present situation of pesticide residues and risk problems with government staff, consumers, laboratory staff and manufacturers. We hope many participants having concerns will join us to discuss these problems.
Special Committee on Agricultural Formulation and Application
Agricultural formulation and application technologies correlate very closely and play an important role in the development and practical use of pesticides.
The Agricultural Formulation and Application Committee was established in 1981 in order to encourage safe and efficient use of pesticides by contributing to improvement of formulations and application technologies in Japan.
In order to attain this purpose, the Japan Agricultural Formulation and Application Symposium is held every year, and technical information and knowledge are actively exchanged to contribute to technical progress. Especially, formulation chemists and application researchers cooperate intimately and actively discuss the formulation and application technologies.
Agricultural formulation and application technologies are interdisciplinary, and the relevant fields are very wide. Therefore, many new technologies and various relevant technologies from other fields, which can be applied to the agricultural formulation and application technologies, are introduced actively not only from other fields in Japan but also from abroad. For this purpose, speakers for the plenary lectures are invited from other countries, and also participants of the congress are invited to introduce information on related fields every year of the international congress.
Information and application forms for the symposium are distributed to many people in the relevant fields, including members of the Pesticide Science Society in Japan, not only from our country but also from other countries. Therefore many people from various fields attend the symposium, and numerous relevant papers are presented at the oral technical presentation and at poster sessions.
Seminars and tours to the relevant facilities are held periodically, and books in this field are also published occasionally. Three books have already been published; “Pesticide Formulation Technologies and Their Bases” (1988), “Spray and Adhesion of Pesticide” (1990) and “Pesticide Formulation Guide” (1997).
At the 20th anniversary of the Japan Agricultural Formulation and Application Symposium in 2001, a special issue, “Advances in Agricultural Formulation and Application Technology”, was published.
[Announcement for the 26th Annual Meeting] (Oct. 26-27, 2006) (PDF file)
Special Committee on Environmental Pesticide Science
The Environmental Pesticide Science Committee was founded in 1983 by scientists who participated in a joint workshop on Environmental Pesticide Science of Japanese Pesticide Science Society and Professor Choseki Furusaka’s project on“Behavior of synthetic chemicals in the soil environment” supported by a Grand-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan in 1977. This committee aims to discuss the environmental issues of pesticides from a scientific point of view and to exchange information. The first meeting was held at the University Farm of Tokyo University of Agriculture at Atsugi in 1983. Since then, the meeting is held annually in various places throughout Japan in the summer or autumn.
The meeting in 2003 was the twentieth anniversary. The meeting was held as a symposium by inviting speakers from not only environmental pesticide scientists of academia and industries but also government officers, agricultural distributors, farmers and consumers. Selected topics on environmental issues of pesticides were presented by the invited speakers and discussed among the participants. Topics characterizing recent meetings included pesticide behavior and its prediction by modeling, workers exposure to pesticides, ecological risk assessment, metabolic fate, biological pesticides, persistent organic pollutants and risk communication. These topics were selected to meet the immediate needs of the participants and concerns of the Japanese society. Meeting duration are two days. Participants are asked to stay at the same lodge to maximize chances for discussion even at night after the meeting dinner. The“midnight discussions” help many participants build personal contacts and a scientific network.
Recent grave concerns of the Japanese society on environmental issues of pesticides has led to an expansion of this field from natural sciences to include social sciences. Environmental pesticide scientists are not only required to intensively study the safety of pesticides but also to be able to explain the environmental issues to the public. The annual meeting provides a unique chance for the members in the field of natural sciences to learn the viewpoint of the social sciences.
Special Committee on Bioactivity of Pesticides
The Bioactivity of Pesticides Committee was founded in 1983 as a small scientific group in the Pesticide Science Society of Japan (PSSJ) to study the role of biological aspects in pesticides development. Since then, the committee has been a very unique group in the PSSJ because its scope of activity has been basically restricted to the biological side only. The committee consists of distinct specialists and the current members include 3 applied entomologists, 4 plant pathologists and 3 weed scientists who have an independent study styles and concepts. The symposium held by the committee every year since its foundation has provided current and interesting topics about the bioactivity of pesticides through many speakers. The committee intends to continue the symposium in the future to provide much qualitative information on the biological aspects of pesticides.
Special Committee on Pesticide Design
The Pesticide Design Committee was established in 1985 with the aim for scientists who study not only the molecular design but also the route scouting of bioactive compounds, to meet together, present their works and exchange opinions about pesticide design. The meeting is held annually, coupled with themes such as “molecular design and pesticidal activity”, “new target site and lead compounds”, “diversity of molecular recognition and molecular design”, “receptor-rational approaches for pesticide design”, “interface between pesticide design and the earth environment”, “seeds for pesticide design”, “pesticide design responding to needs”, “perspectives on the research of pesticide design in integrated science”, re-investigation of pesticide design”, “agrochemicals toward sustainable development”, “innovative designing for healthy crops”, and “origin of pesticide design” founded on the voluntary operation by PSSJ members. The sessions includes suggestive and helpful lectures and poster presentations by domestic as well as overseas scientists in the field of organic or pesticide chemistry.
Special Committee on Pesticide Regulatory Science
The Pesticide Regulatory Science Committee was established in 1994 as a forum to obtain public acceptance of pesticides by discussions with authorities, academy, industry and the public on the assessment of the risks and benefits of pesticides. The committee holds an annual symposium to discuss a risk assessment system for humans and the environment, regulation in Japan and other countries and other topics.
Pesticides have innovative effects in agriculture, while presenting risks for humans and environment. Proper risk assessment and management is a significant concern in aspects of development, regulation, use, exposure, etc.
The committee aims to establish a reasonable positioning of pesticides by scientific discussions and distribution of adequate and correct information about pesticides to the public.
Special Committee on Agrochemical Bioscience
The Agrochemical Bioscience Committee was newly established in 2003 in order to keep agrochemical sciences compatible with the dynamic progresses of contemporary sciences and technologies, such as genome science and combinatorial chemistry. Every year a symposium focusing on emerging issues in agrosciences, including "fusion of post-genome science and crop protection research", "analyses of interactions between organisms", "analyses of organisms-chemical interactions", "-biorational screening of novel agrochemicals", and "metabolism analyses and safety evaluation of agrochemicals from the viewpoint of environmental protection" is held. Our final goal is to contribute to the improvement of crop protection technology scientifically and socially, through active opinion exchanges and discussions among researchers of the related fields.
[Announcement for the 26th Annual Meeting] (Aug. 3, 2006) (PDF file)
http://wwwsoc.pssj2.jp/pssj2/top/top-e.html
Copyright (C) 2006 Pesticide Science Society of Japan. All rights reserved.