Regulatory monitoring of pesticides in the US

In 1999, the FDA analyzed 9,438 food samples for pesticide residues in its regulatory monitoring program. The majority of samples involved imported foods (6,012 samples or 63.7 percent) rather than domestic foods (3,426 samples or 36.3 percent) (FDA, 2000). 

The results of FDA s 1999 monitoring of imported foods are shown in Fig. 14.1. Overall, 65.0 percent of the samples had no residues detected while 3.1 percent had violative residues. Residues and violations were more commonly detected in samples of fruits and vegetables than from grains and grain products, milk/dairy products/eggs, or fish/shellfish. 

Two distinct types of violations are commonly seen for pesticide residues in foods. One type involves detection of a residue of a pesticide at a level that exceeds the established tolerance for that commodity. The other type involves the case where a residue of a pesticide, at any quantifiable level, is detected on a commodity for which a tolerance has not been established. This type of violative residue may result from application of the pesticide to the wrong commodity, drift of a pesticide from an adjacent field, or uptake from soil contaminated from a prior use of the pesticide on a different commodity. For domestic samples in 1999, 8 of 26 (31 percent) violations involved residues detected in excess of tolerances while the rest (18 of 26, 69 percent) involved residues detected on commodities for which no tolerances were established. Violative imported 

Fish/shellfish Other aquatic products 298 samples 

Monitoring of pesticide residues in the US also occurs at the state level. California is the largest state in the US in terms of both agricultural production and population and also possesses, by far, the most comprehensive state regulatory program for pesticides. In 1997, California s Marketplace Surveillance Program analyzed 5660 samples (62.2 percent from California, 6.7 percent from other states, 31.1 percent from other countries) for pesticide residues. The results from this program are shown in Fig. 14.3 and demonstrate that the majority of samples (62.1 percent) contained no detectable residues 

---