EPA’s Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides are Updated
EPA has updated its Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides (HHBPs) in drinking water to reflect the latest scientific information. HHBPs are levels of certain food use pesticides in drinking water or source waters for drinking water at or below which adverse health effects are not anticipated from one-day or lifetime exposures. First developed by EPA in 2012, HHBPs are intended to be used for informational purposes by states, tribes, water systems and the public to help interpret monitoring data for pesticides for which there are no drinking water standards or health advisories. EPA develops HHBPs using the same equation used to calculate health advisories for drinking water. These revised benchmarks incorporate updated toxicity assessments from the pesticide registration process and exposure assumptions derived from the EPA’s Exposure Factors Handbook.
