Check back for our latest updates and resources:

Smithers Announces Expansion of Microbial Pesticide Testing with New BSL-2 Compliant Laboratory for Increased Biopesticide Testing Capacity. View the news release.

Smithers is exhibiting and presenting at the SETAC North America 45th Annual Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, October 20-24. View the presentation abstracts:

• Review of non-target insect (honey bees) test methods for assessing effects of microbial pesticides
• The Fate of 6PPD-quinone in Soil and Water-Sediment Systems using a 14C Radiotracer
• The bioaccumulation and metabolism of 6PPD-quinone in Rainbow Trout

Smithers exhibited at ABIM (Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting),October 21-23, in Switzerland.

Tracey Goodband, Smithers Senior Manager, Ecotoxicology, Harrogate, recently co-authored the article, “Resource and animal use implications of the proposed REACH information requirements for endocrine disruptor assessment,” published in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Read the abstract and link to the full article.

The EMA issued a new Guideline for the Environmental Risk Assessment of pharmaceuticals that expands the scope of testing. Key changes to the prior guideline include the introduction of the specific assessment for Endocrine Disrupting Substances (ED), Antimicrobials (AM), and Antiparasitics (AP), and a strengthening of the Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT) assessment. A summary workflow and decision tree is available for download.

Smithers scientists presented and chaired at the ACS Fall 2024 National Meeting & Exposition, August 18-21, in Denver Colorado. View the list of presentations.

Webinar available on demand: Dr. Charles Nyamekye gives a review on 5-batch preliminary testing and method requirements and highlight strategies developed and lessons learned to overcome the challenges faced in registering different types of products with global regulatory bodies. Watch the webinar.  
You can read responses to questions asked during the audience Q&A here.

Dr. Craig Draper, Vice President of Business Development, and Koichi Sakata, Business Development Manager, exhibited at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology, July 3-5, in Fukuoka, Japan.

Kalumbu Malekani and Lee Sayers attended the Green Chemistry and Engineering conference, June 2-5, in Atlanta.

Smithers scientists presented during the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting,  5-9 May 2024, in Seville, Spain. Download the posters:

• Evaluation of Positive Control Substrates for the OECD319 In Vitro Rainbow Trout Bioaccumulation Estimation Studies
• High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Solutions to the Challenge of Non-Target Transformation Product Identification Presented by the 2023 EFSA Drinking Water Guidance Document 
• The Fate of 6PPD-quinone in Soil and Water-Sediment Systems using a 14C Radiotracer

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Spotlight on Terrestrial Ecotoxicology with Dr. Michael Patnaude
Dr. Kalumbu Malekani speaks with Dr. Michael Patnaude, Senior Research Biologist and Study Director, about his webinar on approaches to terrestrial non-target arthropod testing for biological pesticides and the considerations clients should be aware of when conducting an ecotoxicology study. Watch the interview.

Webinar available on demand: Ecotoxicology expert Dr. Michael Patnaude provides an overview of the commonly used terrestrial non-target species available for biological products following the 885.4340 guideline.  He discusses the unique challenges in testing such as delivery methods, storage, multiple preparations, and duration. View the webinar on-demand. You can read responses to questions asked during the audience Q&A here.

Call for papers: Smithers scientists will chair a symposium at the ACS Fall 2024 National Meeting & Exposition, August 18-21, in Denver Colorado. The organizers are inviting abstracts for the session. Abstracts must be submitted by April 1, 2024. Submit an abstract.

Dr. Kalumbu Malekani attended the ACS Spring meeting in New Orleans, March 17-21. He chaired symposiums on the topic of "Addressing Emerging Contaminants in Food and the Environment Through Remediation, Sensing and Replacement Innovations". View the full list of presentations in this symposium.

Dr. Kalumbu Malekani, Chief Scientific Officer, and Arthur Putt, Research Director, Ecotoxicology, attended the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) Annual Meeting, Mar 26-27, in Washington DC.  Contact us to schedule a meeting. 

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Spotlight on Residue Chemistry with Sidney Bluemink
Dr. Malekani speaks to Sidney Bluemink, Study Director, about his latest webinar and new QuEChERS article, and his thoughts about future developments in the field of chemistry.

Smithers exhibited at the Society of Toxicology ToxExpo, March 11-13, in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Kalumbu Malekani, Chief Scientific Officer, attended the Microbiome Movement – AgBioTech Summit, February 27-29, in Raleigh, NC. 

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Highlights from Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) 
Dr. Malekani shares highlights from the 2023 Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) held in Basel, Switzerland.

QuEChERS: Beyond Convention 
Read the series of articles from expert Sidney Bluemink using the links below or download the PDF.
Part 1 discusses the wide-ranging application of QuEChERS and its variants.
Part 2 decribes the core QuEChERS approach and the benefits and drawbacks of this powerful methodology.
Part 3 covers the varied application of QuEChERSER.
Part 4 discusses some of the more specialized QuEChERS methods including QuPPe (Quick Polar Pesticides) and QuOil.

Smithers exhibited at the NAICC Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, January 15-19, 2024.

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: EFSA/ECHA Guidance on the impact of drinking water treatment processes
Dr. Kalumbu Malekani provides an update regarding the new guidance document on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of active substances (AS) or their metabolites.

2023 SETAC North America Poster Presentations
Smithers presented at the SETAC North America Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Dowload the posters.

Webinar now available on-demand: Navigating Sample Complexity in Residue Analysis - Strategies and Innovations for Accurate and Reliable Results
Expert Sidney Bluemink describes the challenges presented when working with a variety of complex sample matrices. View the recording.
Read Sidney's answers to questions asked during the Q&A session of the webinar.

Sean McLaughlin, Research Director, presented on biodegradation test designs at the Personal Care Products Council Science Symposium, October 24, in Arlington, VA. Contact us to learn more about biodegradation studies.

Dr. Kalumbu Malekani  attended the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) in Switzerland, October 23-25. Contact us to learn more about our biopesticide testing services.

Andrea McGuinness answers audience questions posed during the SANTE Method Validations webinar Q&A session. See her responses.

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Spotlight on Analytical Chemistry with Andrea McGuinness
Dr. Kalumbu Malekani, Chief Scientific Officer, spoke with Andrea McGuinness, Senior Chemist and Study Director, about her presentation at the ACS Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Watch the interview.

2023 ACS Fall Meeting - Smithers Presentations
Smithers Environmental Fate & Metabolism and Chemistry scientists chaired symposiums and presented at the ACS National Meeting. View the list of presentations. 

How to Select Crops for Plant Metabolism and Confined Rotation Crop Studies
Sean McLaughlin, Research Director, Environmental Fate and Metabolism, North America, describes the criteria and steps involved in crop selection for plant metabolism and confined rotation crop studies.

SETAC Europe Dublin: View session highlights from our team:

• Regulatory Assessment of Endocrine Disruption
• Bioaccumulation Science
• Endocrine Disrupting Properties Ecotoxicology Seminar

Now available on-demand – Webinar: SANTE Method Validations – Evolving Analytical Strategies
Smithers Study Director Andrea McGuinness provides a review of SANTE/2020/12830 rev. 1 and highlights strategies developed and lessons learned through its continued use in producing SANTE-compliant analytical method validations. Hear about ongoing challenges presented by this guidance document, and what to expect from the recent update to rev. 2. Watch the recording.

Smithers scientists presented during the SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting, 30 April – 4 May 2023, in Dublin, Ireland.
View the list of topics. Posters are available for downloading. 

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Spotlight on Endocrine Disruption Testing with Joseph Marini, Senior Research Biologist
Dr. Malekani spoke with Joseph Marini, Senior Research Biologist, about his upcoming poster and platform presentations at the SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting.

Smithers is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Bradley as Director of Ecotoxicology in the Wareham, Massachusetts facility. Read the press release. 

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Highlights from Recent Biologicals-focused Annual Meetings
Dr. Malekani shares highlights from the recent Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) and the Microbiome Movement Agbiotech annual meetings.

Smithers is pleased to announce the appointment of Gus Zieske as Vice President, North America, Environmental Risk Sciences Division. Read the press release.

Call for papers - deadline April 4: Smithers scientists will chair a symposium titled "Uses of HPLC-Mass Spectrometry in Support of Agricultural Research and Development" at the ACS Fall Meeting, August 13-17, in San Francisco.
View the symposium description.

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Get to Know Our Experts – Spotlight on ACS Fall AGRO Symposium
Dr. Kalumbu Malekani spoke with experts Jim Ferguson, Ph.D., and Rory Mumford, about their upcoming symposium at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall Meeting in San Francisco, and the impact their work has made on the field of environmental science.

Smithers Acquires ResChem Analytical Limited - Read the press release

The Environmental Science & Regulatory Landscape: Perspectives on the Role and Importance of Scientific Societies
In a new monthly series, Dr. Kalumbu Malekani, Chief Scientific Officer, Environmental Risk Sciences, explores trends and salient topics in environmental and regulatory science. In his January post, he offers insight into the evolution of scientific societies and their role in shaping today’s advances in environmental science.

Now available on-demand: Webinar - Testing Strategies to Assess Persistence of Chemicals in the Environment
In this webinar, Environmental Fate experts Sean McLaughlin and Sara Penketh describe the different types of testing and how to select an appropriate testing strategy based on a chemical’s structure, physico-chemical properties and potential environmental behavior.