In the Development of Pesticide Substances

As with the FFDCA, the FIFRA requires pesticide firms to conduct batteries of extensive testing to identify and characterize a candidate pesticide s bioavailability, distribution, metabolites, routes of excretion in experimental animals, and any adverse or toxic effects that the substance may cause, so that the safety of the pesticide can be assessed. In addition, in cases of pesticides intended to have food uses, extensive field trials must be conducted to characterize residues of the pesticide or metabolites thereof remaining on or in raw agricultural commodities. 

Pesticide registrants must also submit environmental fate and effects data to the EPA as part of an application for pesticide registration. The EPA uses such environmental data to characterize the persistence and partitioning of a pesticide in the environment and the pesticide s environmental metabolites and degradates. This information is used by the EPA to assess the potential for human exposure via drinking water contamination and environmental exposure of organisms such as fish, wildlife, and plants to the pesticide or its metabolites. 

The above information undergoes extensive review by the EPA, and is submitted to the E PA as part of an application for approval and registration of a new pesticide substance, or re-registration of an existing pesticide. Development of a candidate pesticide substance, its testing, and EPA approval usually take many years and are expensive. 

The stringent pre-market health-related and environmental testing requirements of the FIFRA effectively caused changes in the way in which organic chemists are 

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