• Pesticides & the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996
• Selected Bibliography
• Glossary of Terms
• Toxic Notes
• Pesticides & Children

Pesticides were developed to rid us of pests that plague our environment and lower the quality of life. Included in the pesticide category are insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, germacides, and a whole host of other "-cides." However, there is growing concern on the part of consumers and scientists that the very thing that has been of such great benefit may in itself be causing harm in subtle ways by a select few of the pesticide chemicals. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) signed into law August 3, 1996 is an attempt to address some of these complex issues. FQPA (P.L. 140-170) amends both the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to provide a comprehensive and protective regulatory scheme for pesticides.

KEY TOPICS OF FQPA

Health Based Safety Standard for Pesticide Residues in Food Special Provisions for Infants and Children Limitations on Benefits Considerations Tolerance Reevaluation Endocrine Disruptors Enforcement Right to Know Pesticide Registration Minor Use Pesticides Anti-Microbial Pesticides

Although the issues at stake have been hotly debated for many years, the law virtually zoomed through Congress and was signed into law with little or no floor debate. Many agricultural associations supported the bill including the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) and the American Crop Protection Association (ACPA). Rick Jarman of NFPA declared the removal of the Delaney paradox (glossary) and the movement toward a single standard based on sound science to be the key component of FQPA. However, there remains a great deal of uncertainty in pesticide manufacturing and use. Under provisions of the new law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also now have increased enforcement authority to apply civil penalties. Over the next ten years residue limits will be reviewed for each pesticide in use by the EPA. Ann Lindsey of EPA says this will be a long process and the agency is now just in the committee stage. Presently, more than 25,000 pesticide products are on the market and the EPA has approved 350 for food use. Some of the pesticides most likely to top the new list can be found in the March 30, 1994 Federal Register: "Updated List of Pesticides and Uses Potentially Affected by the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act." residue limits Federal Register

MONITORING

FDA's job of monitoring the food supply will continue under the new law as part of its responsibility to protect consumers. USDA will continue to monitor meat, poultry and egg products. FDA tests about 11,000 domestic and imported food items each year for pesticide residues. Sampling is done early in the food production process to prevent distribution of illegal residues. Emphasis is given to food commodities of major dietary importance. Monitoring efforts show that pesticides seldom appear in food at unsafe levels. Of the 10,814 samples tested in FDA's 1994 general surveillance program it found that 99% had no illegal residues and no residues were detected in 83%.

The FDA's total diet study has also found that the residue levels are consistently below the safe limits of exposure recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides are established by the WHO Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues. The FQPA requires EPA to publish a notice for public comment whenever the agency proposes a tolerance that differs from an established Codex MRL.

RISK DEBATE

Another area of concern in the risk debate is endocrine disruptors. Very little is known about the mechanisms of endocrine disruption or possible synergistic effects. However, FQPA provides new authority to require that chemical manufacturers provide data on their products of potential adverse effects on the endocrine system.

The risk debate will most certainly complicate tying pesticides to a single standard based on sound science. However, if sound science, the hoped-for goal of FQPA, can indeed triumph over political verbiage and the vested interests of government and industry, we will all be winners.

	How the Body Handles Pesticides
Pesticides that are ingested enter the body by absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.		Gas or vapor forms are excreted through the lungs.
Most water soluble chemicals go directly from the small itestine to the liver via the hepatic portal vein and are metabolized. Any remaining chemical enters the blood stream to be circulated.		The kidneys and lungs are major organs for excretion of chemicals from the blood stream and metabolic waste is eliminated from the blood via urine.
Fat soluble chemicals bypass the liver by going into the lymphatic system, which empties into the blood stream.		All foreign chemicals ingested eventually exit from the body, either in the same form or after being metabolized to other compounds.

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1. Fenner-Crisp-PA. Pesticides - The NAS Report: How can the Recommendations be Implemented? Environ Health Perspect. 1995 Sep; 103(Suppl 6):159-62.
2. Jarman, Rick. Personal Interview. Washington, DC: National Food Processors Assn; 1996 Oct 3.
3. Kacew, S.; Akhtar, M.H.; Khan, S.U. Bioavailability of Bound Pesticide Residues and Potential Toxicologic Consequences - An Update. Prox Soc Exp Biol Med. 1996; 211(1):62-68 (Ref: 73).
4. Lindsey, Ann. Personal Interview. Washington, DC: EPA: Office of Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances; 1996 Sep 24.
5. McCarthy, John. Personal Interview. Washington, DC: American Crop Protection Assoc; 1996 Oct 4.
6. Ottoboni, M. Alice. The Dose Makes the Poison: A Plain-Language Guide to Toxicology. Berkeley, CA: Vincente Books; 1984.
7. Pennington, J.A.; Capat, S.G.; Parfitt, C.H.; Edwards, C.W. History of the Food and Drug Administration's Total Diet Study (Part II), 1987-1993. J OAC Int. 1996 Jan; 79(1):163-70.
8. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. Washington, DC: US EPA; 1996 Aug.

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CARBAMATES

Insecticides which owe their activity to the carbamate moiety in the molecule. Examples include: Aldicarb, Carbaryl, Methomyl.

DELANEY CLAUSE

Requires that chemicals used as food additives be considered as human carcinogens if they produce cancer in the animal species, at any level of exposure.

FUNGICIDES

Chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of fungi in agricultural applications. Examples include: Benomyl, Captan, Hexachlorobenzene and Maneb.

HERBICIDES

Pesticides used to kill unwanted vegetation, especially various types of weeds, grasses and wood plants. Examples include: Amitrole, Dicamba, Paraquat and Trifluralin.

ORGANOPHOSPHATES

A class of insecticides composed of organic radical bound to a phosphorus containing radical. Examples include: Dichlorvos, Trichlorfon, Tetrachlorvinphos and Paraoxon.

PEST

Any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed or any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, bacteria, or other micro-organism which the administrator declares to be a pest under section 25(c)(1) of Pub. L. 94-140, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. 40 CFR S455.10

PESTICIDE

Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest. 40 CFR S455.10

PESTICIDE RESIDUES

Pesticides or their breakdown products remaining in the environment following their normal use or accidental contamination.

RODENTICIDES

Substance used to destroy or inhibit the action of rats, mice, or other rodents. Examples include: Aminopterin and Warfarin.

The EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances has a complete overview available on "The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996". To obtain a copy at no charge contact the docket office between the hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM at (703) 305-5805.

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