We often talk about how government data shows over 99.8% of foods sampled are well below Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety standards, commonly referred to as “tolerances.”  But how are those safety standards or tolerances developed and established so they are protective of consumers, including infants and children?

While this content may be a bit dry, it’s important to share because the prevalence of disinformation about government processes can undermine consumer confidence about the safety of fruits and vegetables.  So let’s jump in.

Under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), EPA must ensure that all pesticides used on food in the U.S. meet FQPA’s stringent safety standard. FQPA requires an explicit determination that a pesticide’s use on food is safe for children and includes a tenfold additional safety factor, unless data show a different, higher factor is needed to be protective.

Before allowing the use of a pesticide on food crops, EPA sets a maximum legal residue limit or tolerance for each treated food. The tolerance is the residue level that triggers enforcement action. EPA establishes tolerances for each crop use of a pesticide after developing a risk assessment that considers:

• The aggregate exposure from the pesticide through diet and drinking water and from pesticides used in and around the home.
• The cumulative effects from exposure to pesticides that have a common mechanism of toxicity (that is, two or more pesticide chemicals or other substances that cause a common toxic effect(s).
• Whether there is increased susceptibility to infants and children or other sensitive subpopulations, from exposure to the pesticide.
• Whether the pesticide produces an effect in people similar to an effect produced by a naturally occurring estrogen or produces other endocrine disruption-effects.

EPA must ensure that pesticides are also safe for the environment and farm employees when used according to label directions.

For the process of registering and re-evaluating pesticides, EPA requests and reviews hundreds of different studies and data, takes their findings to independent expert panels such as the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel and consults the National Academy of Sciences on broad scientific policy questions. The agency also frequently receives hundreds to thousands of comments from the public on draft assessments and proposed decisions.

According to EPA: “EPA is confident that the fruits and vegetables our children are eating are safer than ever. Under FQPA, EPA evaluates new and existing pesticides to ensure that they can be used with a reasonable certainty of no harm to infants and children as well as adults. EPA works continually to review and improve safety standards that apply to pesticide residues on food.

“It is important to note though, that just because a pesticide residue is detected on a fruit or vegetable, that does not mean it is unsafe. USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP) detects residues at levels far lower than those that are considered health risks.

“We have seen, through USDA’s PDP data, an overall decrease in the amount of pesticide residues in food, especially since the passing of FQPA in 1996. The stricter standards of FQPA and major improvements in science and data, and an increase in the use of safer, less toxic pesticides, has led to an overall trend of reduced risk from pesticides.”

For more information about the laws and regulations governing the approval and application of pesticides used in organic and conventional production, visit the Safety Standards section at safefruitsandveggies.com.

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