The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it will begin using an updated version of its Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model (DEEM) to evaluate the safety of pesticides at the end of this month. The update became available nearly eight years ago, but the agency delayed switching to ensure that consistent data was used for each pesticide case. The updated model uses consumption data from the What We Eat in America database maintained by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Future assessments will consumption increases and decreases for foods including nuts, citrus, and fish. The EPA says that the assessments will provide more current exposure information and be consistent with other pesticide regulatory authorities including those in California and Canada.

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Picture Credit Susanne Kuehne

Posted on 16 February 2022