제  목 : EPA actions target pesticides in food
  일  자 : 1997년 12월
  제공처 : INTERNET

    EPA actions target pesticides in food
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 Reporting requirements strengthened

In an effort to better protect the public from the potential hazards ofpesticide
products, the EPA is strengthening its reporting requirements under which
manufacturers disclose information to the agency about their products
unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.The reporting of
adverse effects of pesticide products by manufacturers is critical to EPA's
efforts to protect public health," said Lynn Goldman, EPA Assistant Administrat-
or for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. "EPA will work with the
pesticide industry to ensure compliance.

In addition to required information on adverse health effects, the new rule
requires pesticide manufacturers, for the first time, to provide EPA with
information about:

    Pesticides found in food above approved levels.
    Pesticides detected in surface, ground, and drinking water above safety
    standards.
    Newly-identified types of ingredients which may be of toxicological or
    environmental concern.
    Specific details about incidents causing adverse effects.
    Occurrence of products no longer effective because of resistance developed
    by the pests.

The rule streamlines the reporting process for both registrants and the agency
by requiring only quarterly summaries for relatively common or less serious
incidents, such as minor skin or eye irritation already on product warning
labels, or very low levels of water contamination.

The new reporting requirements, under section 6(a)(2) of the Federal Insecti-
cide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, take effect nine months after publication
of the rule in the Federal Register, which took place in September. In the
interim, EPA will assist the industry in understanding and complying with the
new information.

Tolerance reassessment announced

As required by the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), EPA recently announced
the schedule for reassessing approximately 10,000 existing pesticide tolerances
to ensure the protection of public health.

Under the schedule, the agency will place the highest priority on those chemi-
cals 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 law, EPA will meet the following timetable for completing review
of pesticide tolerances: 33 percent of all tolerances by August 1999, 66 percent
by ugust 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:

    The aggregate exposure to the pesticide (including from residential pesti-
    cide uses and drinking water);
    The cumulative effects from other pesticides sharing a common mechanism of
    toxicity;
    Whether there is an increased susceptibility from exposure to the pesticide to
    infants and children and other sensitive subpopulations, and;
    Whether the pesticide produces an effect in humans similar to an effect
    produced by a naturally occurring estrogen or other endocrine effects.

There are 10,000 tolerances for about 470 pesticides or high-hazard inert ingred-
ients.
Another 826 tolerance exemptions for inert ingredients will also be reviewed.