Pesticides--the NAS report: how can the recommendations be implemented?

The potential exists for exposure to pesticides from a number of sources, including the diet. Approval of the use of pesticides is regulated under the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, administered primarily by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). In 1988, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the U.S. EPA's existing risk assessment practices to determine whether the agency adequately considered the potential for risk to infants and children. The Academy's 1993 report, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, supported the need for improved data and methods for estimating exposure and hazard when setting tolerances on food to better safeguard the health of infants and children. This article presents the federal government's analysis of the Academy recommendations and describes work completed, underway, and proposed that will lead to improvements in the risk assessment process. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children was released in June, 1993 (1). The report focused primarily upon exposure to pesticides in the diets of infants and children. The federal government views the report as an opportunity to improve all aspects of human health risk assessment. The scientific effort that constitutes followup to this report emphasizes the improved characterization of potential hazard, exposure and risk to the young