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Pesticides: Food Consumption Data of Little Value to Estimate Some Exposures

RCED-91-125 Published: May 22, 1991. Publicly Released: Jun 14, 1991.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the reliability of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) exposure estimates for safe pesticide levels and its reduced sample size, focusing on the adequacy of the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 1987-88 food consumption survey data for EPA to estimate maximum dietary exposure to pesticide residues in food.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency In order to identify and protect all subpopulations at risk from pesticide residues, the Administrator, EPA, should require the agency to calculate the precision level of exposure estimates where appropriate and use this information to determine the validity of both new and existing tolerances.
Closed – Not Implemented
Congress amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, Public Law 104-170, enacted August 3, 1996) to require that the EPA Administrator, in establishing, modifying, leaving in effect, or revoking a tolerance or exemption for a pesticide residue, consider certain information on major identifiable subgroups of consumers. For example, for major identifiable subgroups of consumers, the new legislation specifically requires, among other things, that consideration be given to available information concerning dietary consumption patterns and aggregate exposure levels of the pesticide residue and other related substances.
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator, EPA, should establish a work group to determine EPA food consumption data needs and consult with USDA to determine the best means of obtaining adequate data to meet those needs.
Closed – Implemented
EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs completed a collaborative process, which included the Department of Health and Human Services, to design a 3-year food consumption survey. The survey is ongoing, with the first year having been completed.

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Topics

Natural Resources and Environment
Agricultural chemicalsContaminated foodsData collectionHealth hazardsPesticide regulationPesticidesPopulation statisticsSafety regulationStatistical dataSurveys