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Cover of Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children

Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children

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Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); .
ISBN-10: 0-309-04875-3

Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues.

The committee focuses on four major areas:

  • Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides?
  • Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure?
  • Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age?
  • Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life?
This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.

Contents

Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contract No. 68D-80101, with contributions from International Life Sciences Institute and Health and Welfare Canada. In addition, support for this project was provided by the Kellogg Endowment Fund of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Bookshelf ID: NBK236275PMID: 25144038DOI: 10.17226/2126

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