How does EPA determine what pesticide levels in food are safe?
Prior to the registration of a pesticide, EPA requires testing to determine safe levels in food. Testing involves feeding high doses of each pesticide to laboratory animals to determine adverse effects (including cancer) from both acute (short term) and chronic (long term) exposures. From these studies a reference dose (RfD) is determined. The RfD is defined by EPA as an “estimate of a daily exposure level for the human population, including sensitive subpopulations, that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime”. In simpler terms, this is EPA s estimate of a what is a safe level of exposure to pesticides in the diet. Please see the EXTOXNET FAQ – Adverse Health Risk Assessment page for an in-depth explanation, or see links below. Based on the RfD and estimates of food consumption patterns for the US population, for each raw commodity or processed food, EPA establishes a residue level for each pesticide that if exceeded is a violation of law. Th
