The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of August 1996 raised the standard for pesticide risk assessment in the US. The law required added safety factors for infants and children, aggregate assessments (multi-path, multi route) for a single chemical, and cumulative assessments for multiple chemicals with the same mechanism of toxicity. All of these requirements combine to decrease the size of the available “risk cup” or EPA designated safe exposure level for each pesticide (FQPA standard is “a reasonable certainty of no harm”). To meet these higher standards, more realistic risk assessments (i.e. based on fewer assumptions and more data) are needed. For dietary risk assessment this translates to measurement of residues closer to the point of human consumption or the incorporation of preparation and cooking factors which are not part of the extensive array of standard studies required for registration of a pesticide. Several sources of data for food residue measurements and how they are used in tiered risk assessments will be discussed. The level of refinement incorporated into the collected residue data is very dependent on the reasons or objectives of the original database establishment. Registrant field trial studies, FDA Enforcement and Monitoring Data, FDA Total Diet Study, USDA Pesticide Data Program and Registrant Market Basket Studies will be discussed. All of these databases combined with our still conservative dietary exposure models and risk assessment safety factors and endpoints ensure that the US Food Supply is protected by one of the most stringent and complex regulatory systems in the world.
Back to Ensuring Food and Drinking Water Safety
Back to The 56th Southeast Regional Meeting 2004 (November 10-13, 2004)