Pesticides have contributed impressively to our present-day agricultural productivity, but at the same time they are at the center of serious concerns about safety, health, and the environment. Increasingly, the public wonders whether the benefits of pesticides - `the perfect red apple' - outweigh the costs of environmental pollution, human illness, and the destruction of animals and our habitat. Scientists and government officials are suspected of promoting commercial interests rather than protecting human welfare.

Many of the pesticides applied to food crops in this country are present in foods and may pose risks to human health. Current regulations are intended to protect the health of the general population by controlling pesticide use. This book explores whether the present regulatory approaches adequately protect infants and children, who may differ from adults in susceptibility and in dietary exposures to pesticide residues. The committee focuses on four major areas: Susceptibility: Are children more susceptible or less susceptible than adults to the effects of dietary exposure to pesticides? Exposure: What foods do infants and children eat, and which pesticides and how much of them are present in those foods? Is the current information on consumption and residues adequate to estimate exposure? Toxicity: Are toxicity tests in laboratory animals adequate to predict toxicity in human infants and children? Do the extent and type of toxicity of some chemicals vary by species and by age? Assessing risk: How is dietary exposure to pesticide residues associated with response? How can laboratory data on lifetime exposures of animals be used to derive meaningful estimates of risk to children? Does risk accumulate more rapidly during the early years of life? This book will be of interest to policymakers, administrators of research in the public and private sectors, toxicologists, pediatricians and other health professionals, and the pesticide industry.

The widespread use of chemicals to control pests has resulted in adverse effects for both wildlife and humans. Originally published in 1967, this title seeks to clearly explain the key issues for understanding public policy in the pesticide problem. Authors Headley and Lewis provide simple clarification of the economic issues involved in creating public policy for pest control and present how policy formation for pesticides will be improved by further economic analysis. This title is a valuable and relevant resource for students interested in environmental studies, especially the impact of public policy making on the environment.

Background and nature of the pesticide problem; a decision framework alternative actons, and values; conceptual and measurement problems in assessing the effects of pesticides used by agriculture; a general reneral of the agricultura consequences; effects of pesticide on health; effects on fish and wildlife; public policy and research needs.