Current Agriculture, Food & Resource Issues
S.B. Cash et al.
1999). Historically, pesticide exposure was regulated through single pathways, either
through food or water or dermal exposure. Now the EPA must consider all pathways of
pesticide exposure, including cumulative exposure to multiple pesticides through a
common mechanism of toxicity. Even though two pesticides may be sufficiently
differentiated that they are used on different crops to control different pests, they can have
similar health effects on people. The result of the new requirement is that, in some
instances, pesticide tolerances for seemingly different insecticides must be regulated
together based on their cumulative effects.
The Costs of Banning Organophospates
When the FQPA was first signed into law, 49 Organophosphate (OP) pesticides were
registered for use in pest control throughout the United States and accounted for
approximately one third of all pesticide sales (Casida and Quistad, 1998). OP insecticides
are highly effective insect control agents because of their ability to depress the levels of
cholinesterase enzymes in the blood and nervous systems of insects. It has been suggested
that while dietary exposure to a particular OP may be low, the cumulative effects of
simultaneous exposure to multiple OP insecticides could cause some segments of the U.S.
population to exceed acceptable daily allowances (Byrd, 1997). The need to reduce the
risk from these aggregate effects is specifically addressed in the FQPA and is one of the
reasons the EPA has chosen OP pesticides for the first cumulative risk assessment.
Due to their popularity and widespread use, many in the agricultural community are
worried about FQPA implementation resulting in increased restrictions on OP pesticides.
By the time the EPA released the Revised OP Cumulative Risk Assessment in 2002, 14
pesticides had already been canceled or proposed for cancellation; 28 others have had
considerable risk mitigation measures taken (United States Environmental Protection
Agency, 2002). Risk mitigation may include the following:
• limiting the amount, frequency, or timing of pesticide applications;
• changes in personal protective equipment requirements (for applicators);
• ground-/surface-water safeguards;
• specific use cancellations;
• voluntary cancellations by the registrant.
Economic theory suggests that these increased restrictions and cancellations from the
eventual implementation of the FQPA will result in a reduced supply of the commodities
that currently rely on OP pesticides for pest control. This reduced supply will result, in
turn, in higher prices for consumers and a lower quantity sold. In order to estimate the
possible welfare effects on the state of California, University of California researchers
conducted a study on the effects of a total OP pesticide ban on 15 crops. The estimated
price and quantity changes are presented in table 1.
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