1. Virginia Cooperative Extension Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs Department of Entomology Blacksburg, Virginia Nov. 1998

2. Food Quality Protection Act
Passed in August, 1996
Protects the public from pesticide residues in dietary and non-dietary sources
Passed after great national debate over effectiveness of existing laws to protect us from pesticide residues in our diet

3. Food Quality Protection Act
Single health-based standard for residue tolerances in both raw and processed foods
Determine that residues are safe for children
Consider - aggregate exposure to residues in food, drinking water, residential use
Consider - cumulative exposure to all other pesticides with a common mechanism of toxicity
Review all existing tolerances within 10 years

4. Tolerances Pre-FQPA Now Example:
based on characteristics of each individual pesticide
Now
based on cumulative effects of all pesticides
Example:
Organophosphate insecticides (diazinon, malathion, chloropyrifos, etc.) have common mechanism of toxicity - effects must now all be weighed together

5. What does this all mean?
EPA uses “risk cup” to describe how tolerances are now set
Full cup represents
Amount pesticide a person could receive every day for 70 years without significant health risk
Determined through animal studies
Amount reduced by fold to determine daily/lifetime safe exposure for humans

6. What does FQPA do to the Risk Cup?
Before: EPA considered only exposure to pesticides in food - cup contained only dietary exposure
Now: EPA considers exposure from all possible sources - cup contains both dietary and non-dietary exposure
Result: Cup fills more quickly; less room for new and existing uses.

7. What does FQPA do to the Risk Cup?
Before: EPA considered each pesticide - one risk cup for each pesticide.
Now: EPA considers compounds with common mechanism of toxicity - each cup contains a group of pesticides that work the same way.
Result: Cup fills quickly; less room for pesticides and their uses.

8. What does FQPA do to the Risk Cup?
Before: EPA added safety factors to account for animal testing and human variability to 1,000-fold safety factor.
Now: Must consider infants and children - an additional 10-fold safety factor may be added - 1,000 to 10,000-fold safety margin.
Result: Cup gets smaller; less room for pesticides and their uses.

9. What happens when the cup is full or a manufacturer wants to add a new use?
Make label or formulation changes so pesticide is safer. - Pesticide and uses require less room in cup.
Drop pesticides and/or uses from the cup. This would make more room for remaining uses or new uses.

10. Tolerance Reassessment
All tolerances must be reviewed by 2006
Organophosphates, carbamates, some fungicides and herbicides must be reviewed by August 1999

11. Tolerance Reassessment by 1999
Insecticides
organophosphates and carbamates
Fungicides
benomyl, captan, chlorothalonil, iprodione (Rovral), mancozeb, maneb, thiophanate-methyl (Topsin M), vinclozolin (Ronilan)
Herbicides
alachlor (Lasso), bensulide (Betasan), phenmedipham, pronamide (Kerb)

12. Impact on Agriculture
Minor crops at risk for label restrictions and loss of uses
fruits and vegetables
Be aware that pest control options may change in next few years

13. What Should Growers Do? Determine pesticides needed to grow crops
Communicate needs with:
Cooperative Extension
Commodity Groups
USDA and EPA
Respond to requests for data
Land-Grant University
USDA/National Ag. Statistics Service
commodity groups

14. What is being done? Pest management assessment Communication
Collecting and sharing data
Developing crop/pest management profiles (fact sheets) to be shared with FQPA decision-makers
Communication
Informing growers through Cooperative Extension
Coordinating efforts with Ag. & commodity groups
Working with USDA/EPA to identify alternative controls / maintain existing uses