Dr Vera Ritz appointed head of the Pesticides Safety Department
What it's about:
The Pesticides Safety Department at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) has a new head: Dr Vera Ritz succeeds Dr Tewes Tralau, who took up the post of BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment Vice-President in March 2025. Dr. Ritz is a biologist specialising in molecular genetics, pharmacology and toxicology and has been working at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment since 2006. She initially worked as a Scientific Officer in the department and, in 2014, took over as head of the newly established "Steering and Overall Assessment - Biocides" unit. Since 2019, she has also been Deputy Head of Department.
The department's core tasks include health protection and the prevention of possible harmful effects of pesticides, i.e. biocides and PPPs, on humans and animals. The health risk assessments carried out on substances and formulated products form the basis for regulations and risk management measures in national, European and global regulatory approval, authorisation and evaluation procedures.
Dr. Ritz completed her academic training in Kassel, Bonn and Göttingen. After completing her doctorate, she began her professional career at a sequencing and DNA service company in Göttingen and London. Following a postdoctoral position at the University of Göttingen, she continued her career at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.
Dr Ritz has many years of experience working in national and European Committees, in working groups of the European Commission and the European Council, and in OECD working groups dealing with scientific and regulatory issues relating to the risk assessment of biocides and plant protection products (PPP). In the Society of Toxicology, she is involved in the working groups on regulatory toxicology and endocrine-disrupting substances. She is the chair of the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment Commission on PPPs and Biocidal Products and participates in PARC (Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals) and EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority research projects. In addition, she is involved in the training and advanced education of young scientists and researchers: she is a course leader in the Society for Toxicology's specialist toxicology training programme and a lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Potsdam.
The department's remit includes the health risk assessment of PPPs and biocides. The department's work essentially involves determining the inherent toxic properties of pesticides and their dose-response relationships, classification and labelling of pesticide substances and products, and deriving toxicological limit values as well as maximum residue levels (MRLs). In addition, analytical monitoring methods are reviewed and regulatory testing and assessment strategies and technical guidelines are developed and refined.
Furthermore, the department provides expert advice to the Federal Government on national and European legislation on pesticide substances, product authorisation and the use of PPPs and biocides.