Although committee members and EPA staff had hoped for some upbeat reports the invited speakers painted a bleak picture of how well the changes are working in the field. It was a wake up call for everyone present, made even more alarming by the fact that peaches are only one of many minor crops. If this experience is repeated in other minor crops and the major field crops there is a risk of significant disruption for farmers and our food supply. The committee can also help the agency recognize that being overly cautious on food safety entails very real risk of collateral disruptions to our food production and distribution system. The committee members are also well chosen to help identify viable research topics and extension methods needed to fill the gaps when pesticide registrations are changed.
Several issues are key for weed science.
One is that some major herbicides will soon enter the reassessment process. Drinking water and residential exposures will be combined with food residue exposures and added to the estimated exposures to similar chemicals and the total will be subjected to safety factors of 100 to 1000 fold. These criteria are established in law to protect human safety and EPA must use them. Nevertheless, the process is plowing new ground for science and regulation and the math is still fuzzy. A great deal is already known about regulating food residues and it is generally accepted that these are not the major concern for herbicides.