Children and Pesticides: New Approach to Considering Risk Is Partly in Place. Report to Congressional Requesters.

The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA) requires that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates the use of pesticides at the federal level, reevaluate the amounts of pesticide residues allowed on or in food. The EPA immediately began efforts to consider the additional safety factor for children, using available methods and data in an interim approach that has evolved over time. An internal committee now recommends whether to apply the additional safety factor in pesticide reviews, based on data completeness and evidence of increased susceptibility in children. Using this approach, the EPA has made decisions about applying the additional safety factor for 105 of the more than 450 pesticides to be reassessed. It determined that an additional safety factor was necessary in 49 cases and not necessary in the remaining 56 cases. Appendices contain the study methodology and evaluations of three pesticides evaluated under FQPA's new requirement for dicofol, methomyl, and phosmet. (DFR)