EPA fails to follow landmark law to protect children from pesticides in food

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/uonl-sdm021220.php

News Release 12-Feb-2020
Environmental Working Group

The landmark Food Quality Protection Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to protect children's health by applying an extra margin of safety to legal limits for pesticides in food. But an investigation by EWG, published this week in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, found that the EPA has failed to add the mandated children's health safety factor to the allowable limits for almost 90 percent of the most common pesticides.

The study in Environmental Health examined the EPA's risk assessments for 47 non-organophosphate pesticides since 2011, including those most commonly found on fresh fruits and vegetables, and found that the required additional tenfold safety factor was applied in only five cases.

•••••