"This (the guidance document) is one of the key science policies identified...as crucial to implementing tolerance reassessment" under the Food Quality Protection Act, EPA says.  It presents EPA's current approach and rationale for using the 99.9th percentile as a standard for regulating an acute dietary risk assessment.

The paper discusses how EPA now applies the statutory safety standard to acute dietary risk assessments when setting pesticide tolerances (maximum residue levels) in food, including analyses to determine the nature and amounts of pesticides that people might be exposed to over a single day.

The proposed revocation of tolerances follows up earlier actions on canceled pesticides or uses.  The review is part of the tolerance reassessment process that EPA is conducting under the FQPA.

EPA reassessed more than 2,300 tolerances of the 3,200 or so needed to meet the August 1999 goal of reassessing 33% of tolerances existing when the law was enacted.

There are 15 active ingredients associated with this latest proposal.

EPA has opened a 60-day comment period for pesticide manufacturers, growers and other potentially affected groups to present opinions on the revocations and other changes in the proposal.

Copies of both documents may be obtained from EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST.