SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Existing California and federal pesticide regulatory programs "adequately protect infants and children from pesticide residue risks," according to the results of a year-long study released here. Nonetheless, the findings suggest there is still room for improvement.
The report, "A Joint Review of Existing Federal and State Pesticide Registration and Food Safety Programs," was prepared by the Pesticide Exposure to Children Committee, a working group formed by the California Environmental Protection Agency here after the release in June 1993 of the National Academy of Sciences' report on children and pesticides.
The committee was formed to investigate how NAS's findings related to federal and state pesticide registration and food safety programs. The group was made up of representatives from the California EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and Department of Pesticide Regulation. Other groups included the state's Department of Health Services and Department of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the University of California at Davis.
The new report, released in June, was particularly timely, in the aftermath of numerous reports by the news media and consumer and environmental groups that called into question the safety of children exposed to pesticide residues.
More than half of all produce sold in the United States is grown in California. The report is expected to allay fears about the safety of the state's produce supply as well as serve as a basis for strengthening the state's food safety programs, according to James Strock, California's secretary for environmental protection.
"We're listening to the concerns and implementing new approaches -- based on best available science -- to identify and reduce dietary risks of pesticide residues in our food supply," he said.
"This report has helped identify keys to enhancing our food safety programs, including greater state-federal cooperation with regulatory procedures, continual advancement in risk assessment methodology and improving data on food consumption by children of different ages."
While the committee said current regulatory procedures and programs are adequate, it agreed with the NAS report that there are shortcomings in the data collected by federal agencies on the types and amount of food typically eaten by infants and children.
Some of the committee's key recommendations suggest that the state should:
· Gather additional toxicity data, particularly for those pesticides that are most threatening to the health and safety of infants and children.
· Gather better data on typical food consumption patterns of different population subgroups. Currently, several segments of the population -- particularly younger age groups -- are not adequately represented, according to the study.
· Focus residue monitoring on foods typically consumed by infants and children, to help scientists better assess potential risks to these age groups.
· Develop new risk assessment methodology to "reduce the inherent uncertainties of current methods." Because of these uncertainties, some assumptions are currently built into the process "which can lead to overstatement or understatement of risks."
Some recommendations had already been carried out prior to the release of the report, according to James Wells, director of the department of pesticide regulations at the California EPA. Some will require further research or development.
