The PDP’s sampling strategy is statistically reliable and allows for realistic estimates
of pesticide residues in the total food supply and of consumer exposure to them.
Data are available annually and are reported by the food product and the pesticide
for which the food product was tested.Detectable and Violative Pesticide ResiduesIn the United States and other developed countries, including Japan and the
nations of Western Europe, the majority of pesticide applications represent herbi-
cides, which tend to have lower acute toxicities than insecticides. However, in devel-
oping countries, the situation is reversed. In these countries, insecticides are primarily
used—often older compounds in the organophosphate and carbamate families known
for their acute and chronic toxicities. Because of the potential risks to human health
posed by agricultural practices in other countries, it is important to monitor pesticide
residues on food imports. The FDA enforces the EPA’s pesticide residue tolerances in
imported foods. The foods sampled by the FDA from 1993 to 1999 with detectable
and violative pesticide residues revealed these trends: Total pesticide residue detec-
tions exhibited a reasonably stable trend, ranging from 31 percent to 35.6 percent of
sampled food imports. Violative pesticide residue detections also exhibited a reason-
ably stable trend; however, the 1997–1999 period demonstrated a slight increase,
from 1.6 percent to 3.1 percent of sampled food imports.Data Characteristics and LimitationsThe FDA samples both raw agricultural commodities and processed food products.
It relies on multiresidue methods (MRMs) that can simultaneously detect a number
of different pesticide residues. In 1999 the FDA collected 6,012 food samples repre-
senting shipments from ninety-two countries.^5Violations or Presumed Tolerance ViolationsA violation occurs when a residue is detected that exceeds its tolerance or when a res-
idue is found for which there is no tolerance set for a specific crop. Since 1991, the
PDP has tested fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and processed products for residues of
more than 160 different pesticides. Foods were sampled from 1993 to 1998 that had
residues that violated or were presumed to violate (that is, no tolerance level was estab-
lished for that crop) tolerances. Each year, less than 0.2 percent of all sampled foods
had residues that violated established tolerances. Despite a decrease from 1997 to
1998, the percentage of sampled foods presumed to violate tolerances exhibited an
increasing overall trend—from 1.31 percent in 1993 to 3.7 percent in 1998.^6Pesticide Residues: Reducing Dietary RisksRecent data on pesticide residues, food consumption, and pesticide use reveal both
the sources of consumers’ dietary intake of pesticide residues and the benefits of68 | Pesticides