Safety Of Pesticides In Food

Pesticides are now accepted as an integral part of modern agricultural production. This book provides analysis of the steps taken by national and international bodies working towards a cohesive global strategy for evaluating the safety of residues in food that result from approved pesticide uses. Also described is the role of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and Codex Alimentarius in developing standards that protect the health of the consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. It goes on to look at the promotion of good agricultural practice in the use of pesticides and the need for control in their practical use. These include sampling, testing the compliance of marketed products against legal limits and verifying the effectiveness of the safety-based regulatory measures. This is a specialist book for those looking to go into the field of international food safety, for students and lecturers studying the topic, for policy makers working on public health and agricultural issues, and personnel responsible for taking samples and performing the analysis of pesticide formulations and residues.

Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues. The committee focuses on four major areas: Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides? Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure? Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age? Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life? This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.

Abstract: This hearing addresses the Safety of Pesticides in Food Act of 1991. This bill addresses the persistent problem of pesticide residues in foods, as pesticides are the major chemical hazard in the food supply.

This report is based on papers and discussions at a Southern Agricultural Economics Association symposium in New Orleans in 1988. The report addresses the carcinogenic risk for residues of pesticide products on a food crop, as indicated with the 1988 EPA standards change for applying the Delaney Clause of the FFDCA (Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act).