Agricultural pesticide use and food safety：
California’s model
Minghua Zhang;Michael R Zeiss;Shu Geng
【期刊名称】《农业科学学报（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2015(000)011
【摘要】Pesticides have been an essential part of agriculture to protect crops and livestock from pest infestations and yield reduc-tion for many decades. Despite their usefulness, pesticides could pose potential risks to food safety and the environment as wel as human health. This paper reviews the positive beneifts of agricultural pesticide use as wel as some potential negative impacts on the environment and food safety. In addition, using the case of California, we discuss the need for both residue monitoring and effective pest management to promote food safety. Twenty years’ pesticide residue data from California’s pesticide residue monitoring program were analyzed. Results showed that more than 95% of food samples were in compliance with US pesticide residue standards (tolerances). However, certain commodities from certain sources had high percentages of residues above tolerance levels. Even when residues above tolerance levels were detected, most were at levels wel below 1 mg kg–1, and most posed negligible acute health risk. However, a few detected residues had the potential to cause health effects. Therefore, establishing an effective food residue
Agricultural pesticide use and food safety：California’s model
