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In This EPA Update
Date:
Tue, 6 Aug 2002 15:01:25 -400
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
IN THIS EPA UPDATE:
1) EPA REASSESSES 42 ORGANOPHOSPHATE TOLERANCES
EPA has, in two actions, reassessed a total of 42 additional organophosphate pesticide tolerances. In these actions, which are part of the review of existing organophosphate tolerances under the Food Quality Protection Act, EPA has determined that three tolerances for chlorpyrifos and 39 diazinon tolerances meet the safety standard in section 408(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and can be reassessed. EPA has concluded that these tolerances make, at most, a negligible contribution to the cumulative risk from organophosphate pesticides because they were found in no more than a small number of samples in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pesticide Data Program.
The Agency examined the monitoring data used in the organophosphate cumulative risk assessment and found that pesticide residue was detected only in an insignificant number of the samples that were analyzed for these food commodity/organophosphate combinations, including the parent chemical and the degradates that were tested. In addition, the revised organophosphate cumulative risk assessment indicates that relatively few pesticide/crop combinations account for the vast majority of exposure. These tolerances are not among those pesticide/crop combinations that are major contributors to risk.
Federal Register notices further describing these actions will be published soon. EPA has previously announced similar reassessment decisions. Information on these reassessments is available at www.epa.gov/pesticides/cumulative/tolerance.htm; see "Reassessment of Diazinon Non-Contributor Tolerances" and "Reassessment of More Non-Contributing Commodity Tolerances." EPA expects that additional tolerances will be appropriate for reassessment based on the kind of approach described in this Notice.
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