In general, are children different from adults in terms of dietary risk?
Children's dietary patterns differ from adults in both quantity and types of foods consumed. In relation to body weight, children (particularly preschoolers) eat more food than adults to meet their rapid demands for growth. Also, children's consumption of certain types of foods can be quite different from adults.
Both EPA and FDA currently evaluate dietary patterns as well as other differences between children and adults before determining whether a substance should be approved for use in or on food.
Are children always more vulnerable than adults to the harmful effects of substances?
Children differ from adults in terms of diet, metabolism, immunity, exposure to substances in the environment and other factors. Current scientific evidence indicates that such factors may make children more, less than or similarly sensitive as adults to adverse health effects from certain substances. For example, young children are known to have a greater tolerance than adults to acetaminophen, the most widely used over-the-counter drug for pain and fever in the United States.
Does EPA currently take children's risk into consideration before approving specific pesticide uses?
Absolutely. To ensure that children are protected, EPA evaluates data from the most sensitive and relevant animal species. These findings are combined with information on children's potential exposure to the substance through diet. If studies suggest that children may be harmed by exposure to a pesticide, EPA will not approve its use.
How does EPA estimate children's potential dietary exposure to pesticide residues?
To estimate potential dietary exposure to pesticide residues, EPA uses food consumption data gathered as part of the USDA's 1977-78 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey. To help more accurately predict exposure estimates for children and other potentially sensitive subgroups, EPA also has developed a data base known as the Dietary Risk Evaluation System (DRES). The DRES system provides information on food consumption for more than 300 food commodities for 22 different subpopulations.
Has EPA ever denied a tolerance because of specific dietary risks to infants and children?
EPA carefully evaluates the health impact on various subpopulations for each pesticide it approves. In the case of children, EPA has denied tolerances because of specific dietary risks to children. For example, in 1985 the agency denied a request for new uses of the pesticide pydrin on alfalfa and sorghum. EPA determined that the potential risks to children from secondary residues in milk from cows eating such feed were unacceptable, and the agency denied the request.
Dietary Recommendations
What can parents do to ensure their children's food is safe to eat?
Regulatory officials and industry are committed to producing the safest food supply possible and are continually examining ways to reduce pesticide risks to adults as well as children. But there are also steps individuals can take to ensure the safety of their produce selections:
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select produce that is free of dirt, cuts, insect holes, mold or decay;
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wash produce in water (not soap) and peel its skin or outer leaves; and
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eat a variety of foods.
Should parents limit their children's consumption of produce?
No. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that, "despite the theoretical risk of pesticide residues...a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the most healthful diet that children can consume."
The need for all Americans to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables has been recommended by the Surgeon General, American Dietetic Association, the American Cancer Society and a wide variety of other health and medical authorities.
It is difficult to imagine children eating too much produce. Produce is a good source of dietary fiber and of many vitamins and minerals that are essential for proper growth and development.
Should parents buy organically grown produce to protect their children's health?
There is no evidence that foods labeled "organically grown" are safer or more nutritious than foods grown using conventional agricultural practices. Many organic growers use pesticides, mostly those found in the environment such as sulfur, nicotine and copper. The relative risks and benefits of applying naturally occurring pesticides versus synthetics have not been determined. But there is no evidence that foods labeled "pesticide-free" are safer than foods conventionally grown.
Are childhood cancers in any way linked to pesticide residues?
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), there is absolutely no evidence that any cancers in children are linked to diet. In 1991, ACS revised its nutritional recommendations for all persons aged two years and older. Included among its recommendations are to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables daily and to eat more fiber-rich foods, including fresh produce.
Overwhelming scientific consensus of the Surgeon General, the National Institutes of Health, the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics and numerous other health authorities is that the health benefits of eating more produce far outweigh any possible pesticide-related risks.
Pesticide Tolerances
What is a pesticide tolerance?
A tolerance is the maximum residue of a pesticide legally permitted in or on a food, feed or food constituent. A tolerance is the maximum residue level of a pesticide legally permitted in or on a food, feed or food constituent. EPA establishes tolerances for each pesticide it approves. FDA enforces pesticide tolerances for all foods except for meat, poultry and some egg products, which are monitored by USDA. Tolerances levels can now be expressed in parts of pesticide residue per trillion parts of food (ppt). One ppt is the equivalent of about 1 inch in 16 million miles.
Do tolerances represent the amount of pesticides expected to be present in or on foods?
A tolerance is a legally enforceable limit. It is not a measure of the amount of a chemical that can be expected to be present in a food as purchased.
Are tolerances based on health considerations?
In setting a pesticide tolerance, EPA requires that a manufacturer submit data on the chemical's short- and long-term effects on human health, the environment, fish, wildlife and other areas.
Toxicity data from studies of the pesticide in young animals through adulthood are required. The chemical's potential to cause birth defects, reproductive effects and adverse effects on the nervous system and other organs are evaluated carefully. Multigeneration animal studies help determine a substance's reproductive effects when administered to the mother before conception, while the fetus is in the womb, and during lactation.
If such experimental or hypothetical evidence suggests that children or other groups may be more sensitive to the potential effects of a pesticide, EPA requires additional safety studies. The agency uses these data to help determine the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of a pesticide.
What is an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)?
The ADI is an estimate of the amount of a substance that humans can be exposed to safely every day over a lifetime without adverse effects. It is based on the maximum dose of a chemical to which experimental animals can be exposed without observable biological effects. This dose, also known as the no observable effect level (NOEL), is then divided by a safety factor of 100 to 1,000 to provide an extra margin of human safety.
Because of the built-in safety factor, individuals, including special sub-populations such as infants and children, may occasionally exceed the ADI without adverse health effects.
Residue Monitoring
What government agencies monitor foods for pesticide residues?
FDA enforces pesticide tolerances for all domestically produced and imported foods, except for meat, poultry and some egg products, which are monitored by the USDA.
What is FDA's program for pesticide residue monitoring?
FDA uses three approaches to monitoring pesticide residues in domestically produced food shipped in interstate commerce and in imported food: regulatory monitoring, incidence/level monitoring and the Total Diet Study.
Regulatory monitoring is performed to enforce EPA tolerances. Incidence/level monitoring is conducted to obtain information on specific commodities, pesticides, or combinations thereof. The Total Diet Study provides estimates of the intakes of pesticides in foods as consumed or prepared.
Over the years, FDA and other monitoring agencies have concluded that pesticide residues in the food supply are well below established tolerances.
Has FDA examined foods consumed by infants and children?
FDA specifically analyzes infant foods and foods eaten by infants and children such as apple juice, apples, bananas, grape juice, milk and pears. Infant foods analyzed under both the Total Diet Study and incidence/level monitoring programs showed levels of pesticide residues well below EPA tolerances.
How does food processing affect pesticide residues?
Food manufacturers responsible for producing most of the food supply dedicate significant resources to monitoring the residue levels in raw ingredients. Food processing steps such as canning, freezing and drying - as well as home preparation - decrease the pesticide residues in most foods as eaten. Whether a food's pesticide content is reduced depends on the chemical nature of the pesticide, the nature of the food and the type of process to which it is subjected.
Estimating Risk
How is pesticide risk calculated?
Human risk from a particular pesticide is based on multiplying exposure to the chemical times its toxicity (risk = exposure x toxicity).
Potential exposure to a chemical in a specific food is determined by multiplying the residue concentrations in the food times the amount of the food consumed by each person in the population (exposure = residue concentration x amount of food consumed).
Since different sex and age groups often have different food consumption patterns, EPA calculates their exposure separately. For example, infants and children eat greater amounts of some foods, relative to their body weights, than adults. Therefore, if the foods consumed by adults and children contained the same residue concentration, children would receive greater pesticide residue exposure on a body weight basis than adults. EPA currently takes the exposures of 22 different subpopulations into consideration when establishing pesticide tolerances.
What estimates of residue concentration are used in calculating exposure to a pesticide?
When data are available, EPA uses anticipated residue levels to help calculate exposure to a pesticide. Anticipated residue levels are the expected levels of pesticide in food crops and in processed food. When such data are unavailable, tolerance levels are used in risk assessments to provide an extra margin of safety. Since pesticide residues are rarely found at tolerance levels, using this legal limit in a risk assessment greatly exaggerates the estimated potential risk.
