EPA Transitions to Using Updated Dietary Exposure Model
For Release January 20, 2022
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) is announcing its transition to using an updated version of the agency’s Dietary Exposure Evaluation Model (DEEM) that contains newer consumption data to provide more up-to-date exposure information in human health risk assessments and to ensure transparency to the public and affected stakeholders.
DEEM is a model used to carry out risk assessments to make informed decisions when approving new pesticides, new uses of registered pesticides, and periodic reviews of existing pesticides. OPP periodically updates the consumption information used in the model to incorporate the most recent consumption data for which recipe translations are available for the What We Eat In America (WWEIA) database.
The updated model and consumption data have been publicly available since September 2014. When the data and model were publicly released, OPP was in the first round of registration review and wanted to ensure the same data was being used for each pesticide case. Therefore, effective as of January 31, 2022, OPP will transition from 2003-2008 to 2005-2010 WWEIA consumption data for conventional pesticides and biopesticides. EPA’s pesticide risk assessments will reflect the balance of consumption increases and consumption decreases for commodities including nuts, citrus, and fish. The impact on risk estimates is expected to be minimal because consumption patterns did not change dramatically with the two years of newer consumption information. In addition, the use of updated consumption information is consistent with the practices of other regulatory authorities, including Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Analyzing and compiling updated consumption data and incorporating it into the model is a significant effort for OPP, representing years of work. Consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on using the best available science to inform decisions, OPP is currently reviewing more recent consumption data and plans to update the dietary exposure model again as more information becomes available.
Learn more on EPA’s Models for Pesticide Risk Assessment webpage.