Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
NTC RISKIEST PESTICIDES WILL BE ASSESSED FIRST UNDER NEW FOOD SAFETY ACT
Release Date: 08/04/97
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1997
RISKIEST PESTICIDES WILL BE ASSESSED FIRST
UNDER NEW FOOD SAFETY ACT
UNDER NEW FOOD SAFETY ACT
EPA today announced the schedule for reassessing approximately 10,000 existing pesticide tolerances to ensure the protection of public health. Tolerances are the allowable pesticide residues in raw and processed food. The reassessment is required by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) which was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in August 1996. Under the schedule, the Agency will place the highest priority on those chemicals that appear to pose the greatest health risks. This tolerance reassessment process will assure that all pesticides on foods meet new safety standards that are especially protective for infants and children.
Under the new food safety law, EPA will meet the following timetable for completing review of pesticide tolerances: 33 percent of all tolerances by August 1999, 66 percent by August 2002, and 100 percent by August 2006. The riskiest pesticides assessed in the first group include those used in foods most eaten by children. The following are the key factors the Agency will consider in its reassessment of the tolerances for pesticide active ingredients and certain inert products:
o the aggregate exposure to the pesticide (including the exposure from residential pesticide uses and drinking water);
o the cumulative effects from other pesticides sharing a common mechanism of toxicity;
o whether there is an increased susceptibility from exposure to the pesticide to infants and children and other sensitive subpopulations, and
o whether the pesticide produces an effect in humans similar to an effect produced by a naturally occuring estrogen, or other endocrine effects.
There are 10,000 tolerances for about 470 pesticides or high hazard inert ingredients. Another 826 tolerance exemptions for inert ingredients will also be reviewed.
EPA expects to publish the tolerance reassessment schedule and list of chemical groups in the Federal Register on Aug. 4, 1997. To obtain a copy of the schedule contact the Communication Services Branch of the Office of Pesticide Programs at 703-305-5017. The Federal Register is also available on the Internet athttps://www.epa.gov/pesticides.
R-111 ###
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
