Category:Food Quality Protection Act

From Science Online

1 Background
2 Cause of the Act
3 Purpose of the Act
4 Impact of the Law
5 FQPA In the News
6 The Act Itself
7 Summary

Background

The Food Quality Protection Act(FQPA) was unanimously passed by Congress in 1996 and officially made into a law on August 3, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. The FQPA is a federal act enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). The Act amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act(FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act(FFDC). The EPA was forced to drastically change the way that they regulated pesticides because of this act. This act was set to end on August 3rd, 2006, but the EPA claims that they have several things left to accomplish. (Cunningham, 2001)

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Cause of the Act

One major reason the FQPA was created was because scientists began to realize that children and infants have a lower tolerance for pesticides than adults- children are still growing and some of the pesticides they are exposed to could affect their growth. They decided that the food tolerance for pesticides should be lowered to account for possible sensitivity in children. Another reason it was created was to replace the Delaney Clause, created in 1960 to address the relationship between some pesticides and cancer in humans. However, the Delaney Clause did not hold raw foods to the same criterion as processed food; therefore, a pesticide that wasn't allowed to be in processed food could be used in raw food. Also, the law specified zero tolerance, and as the detection of pesticides became more advanced, this level was difficult to attain. (IPM World Textbook)

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Purpose of the Act

The chief purpose of this Act was to make sure that America, in particular the children of America, has the healthiest and most affordable food supplies in the world, achieved by using safe, efficient pesticides. In order to do this, the EPA was given the challenge of enacting firmer safety standards, completely re-examining all of the existing pesticide laws, and constantly reassessing and considering the impact of pesticides in our food and water.

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Impact of the Law

10 years after the law was passed in 1996, the EPA had claimed to have completed over 99% of the 9,721 tolerance reassessment decisions entailed in the FQPA. (Environmental Protection Agency)

Over these years, the EPA has banned the use of several pesticides, such as methyl parathion, found to damage the brain and nervous system, and Dursban, one of the most common pesticides used in gardens and homes. However, many have complained that the EPA had only taken "limited action" and could be doing a lot more with the cumulative risk of pesticide exposure. Also, scientists claim that most of the "tolerance reassessments" that the EPA claimed to have done were already banned or weren't being used anymore. (Western Journal of Medicine)

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FQPA In the News

An issue with the EPA has arisen with their method of determining the human risk of being exposed to a pesticide. They find the lowest level harmful to lab animals and then lower the amount using several mathematical factors. Manufacturers of the questionable chemicals have complained that this method is illogical and that the EPA should take a different approach. The chemical companies began launching human clinical trials and submitted their results to the EPA; however, the question is whether or not these trials are ethical or even legal. Furthermore, these tests could potentially harm the participants but could also potentially help public health. (Rawe, 2002)

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The Act Itself

The entire text of the Food Quality Protection Act can be found here.

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Summary

The Food Quality Protection Act was enacted to reasses the pesticides used in our daily food, especially taking into consideration the tolerance that children possess for these pesticides.