ENMT303 Environmental Regulations and Policy Week 6 Discussion
DQ1 Inspections and the Agricultural Industry
Topic 1 – Inspections and the Agricultural Industry
Inspection of the agricultural industry is a key responsibility of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). To help members of the agricultural industry, environmental managers, safety officers, and the public understand expectations and requirements about inspections, the USDA has provided several regulatory and compliance educational resources.
Choose only one of the two options, Option 1 or Option 2, below.
OPTION 1:
STEP 1: Choose one video from one of the USDA Regulatory Education Video Seminars available at the link below:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/regulatory-compliance/regulatory-education-video-seminars
STEP 2: Provide Title of the video as the title of your Main post. Add the URL of video in the body of your Main post. What is the overall purpose of this video? Explain the purpose in your own words.
Complete STEPS 3-5 below.
OPTION 2:
STEP 1: Go through the Food Defense 101 Training course, answer the questions below (STEPS 2-5), and submit your Certificate of completion with your Main post
STEP 2: What is the overall purpose of Food Defense 101 course? Explain the purpose in your own words.
Complete STEPS 3-5 below.
Food Defense 101 Training and Certificate
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-defense-tools-educational-materials/food-defense-101-front-line-employee
Select Launch FOOD DEFENSE
STEP 3: What processes or procedures did you learn about? Be specific and provide a detailed description of the procedures or processes addressed.
STEP 4: How would the information be used by the agricultural industry or members of the public? Be specific and provide clear, comprehensive coverage of how the information supports compliance with regulations as well as how it benefits the health and safety of food, food products, animal welfare, or other agriculture-related products.
STEP 5: Share any additional insights that you learned. (For Option 2, be sure to submit your Food Defense 101 Certificate with your Main post.)
DQ2 FDA, CPSC, and Recalls
Topic 2 – FDA, CPSC and Recalls
Federal legislation that creates agencies like the Food and Drug Administration is aimed at securing public safety in the face of an uncertain and constantly changing market of products aimed at consumers. New products of all sorts are on the market daily and everyone gets excited to see new and innovative ideas, but there can be consequences. Recalls are necessary to protect consumers from products known to cause illness, injury, or even death.
STEP 1: Select from one of the three Recall websites listed below, and select one recalled product from within the past year. Title your post with the name of the product.
Food Safety and Recalls https://www.foodsafety.gov/
FDA Recalls https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Recalls https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls
NOTE: Answers to questions in STEPS 2-4 may require additional research.
STEP 2: Why was the product recalled? What was the problem with the product?
STEP 3: How many people were impacted by the defective productive? In what way were they impacted? Discuss any injuries, illnesses, or deaths that resulted.
STEP 4: Which government agency was involved in the recall? How was that agency involved? How did they respond? By what means did they inform the public?
STEP 5: Cite all sources and provide URLs used to answer questions Step 2-4
DQ3 Pesticides, FIFRA, and Food
Topic 3 – Pesticides, FIFRA, and Food
The EPA regulates pesticides and is responsible for setting the tolerances for the amount of pesticides that remain in or on food, called residues. The tolerances are also called ‘maximum residue limits.’
The EPA has the authority to regulate these residues under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) which was initially enacted in previous version in 1947 and amended substantively in 1972 and 2003. FIFRA was initially administered by the United States Department of Agriculture but was transferred to the EPA in 1970.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is the Federal statute that governs the registration, distribution, sale, and use of pesticides in the United States. With certain exceptions, a pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, or intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant, or desiccant, or any nitrogen stabilizer.
Key Federal Facility Responsibilities Under FIFRA
In brief, under FIFRA, Federal Facilities are required to:
Sell or distribute pesticides only as set forth in §12 of FIFRA
Properly follow pesticide labeling instructions
Use any pesticide under an experimental use permit consistent with the provisions of the permit
Ensure that applicators are properly trained and, wherever necessary, certified to use restricted use pesticides and are using appropriate personal protective equipment
Properly manage pesticide storage facilities
Dispose of pesticide residues and waste in accordance with required and recommended procedures
Maintain records of applications of restricted use pesticides, except when applied by a certified applicator who is a private contractor.
At facilities where pesticides are produced, sold or distributed, allow entry, inspection, copying of records or sampling authorized by FIFRA
SOURCE: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/federal-insecticide-fungicide-and-rodenticide-act-fifra-and-federal-facilities
FIFRA Objective: Ensure that, when applied as instructed, pesticides will not generally cause unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.
Execution: Provisions in FIFRA require the EPA to establish programs to require pesticides be labeled (40 CFR Part 156) and packaged to prevent accidents and exposure (40 CFR Part 157), as well as set standards for workers that handle pesticides (40 CFR Part 170), restricted use, storage, disposal, transportation, and recall (sections §11-19 of the Act).
STEP 1: Decide on one of the pesticides listed below. Provide the pesticide name as the title of your Main post. There are 25 pesticides listed so please strive to avoid duplication with another classmate.
| Glufosinate | Decan-1-ol | Metolachlor | Chlorothalonil | 2,4-D |
| Methyl bromide | Trifluralin | Chlorpyrifos | Chloropicrin | Dichloropropene |
| Paraquat | Dicamba | Mancozeb | Metan potassium | Metolachlor-S |
| Acephate | Propanil | Ethephon | Acetochlor | Atrazine |
| Copper hydroxide | Hydrated lime | Pendimethalin | Metam | Glyphosphate |
STEP 2: Go to https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ to search for one of the pesticides. Select one of the search results that most closely matches the use of the chemical as a pesticide. You can confirm its use as a pesticide by selecting the search result and scrolling to Content #7 of the Compound Summary at PubChem. Provide the URL of your search results.
STEP 3: What is the molecular formula of the pesticide? What is the IUPAC name of the pesticide? See Content Section #2. What is the CAS number for the pesticide? CAS is the Chemical Abstracts Service and a CAS number is a unique identifier.
STEP 4: What type of pesticide is it? What is its purpose? See the Compound Summary Introduction and Content Sections 6, 7, 11 and 12 to assist in answering this question.
STEP 5: Use various information available in the Compound Summary at PubChem to discuss the pesticide’s toxic effects and tolerance levels. What is the evidence for toxicity? Discuss data evidence from different subjects such as humans and animals. Cite sources used to answer this question.