ABSTRACT
Producers of food animals need to control insects, lice, mites, ticks, and rodents due to adverse effects on animal health and the profitability of their operations. The pests can cause animals to become ill, slacken their weight gain, and, in rare cases, lead to death. All of the pesticides used to control these pests are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency and are supposed to be safe for animals and humans. If pesticide residues remain in food products, they must be at a low enough level so that over a person’s lifetime there will be no adverse effects. Whenever new information discloses a pesticide to be more dangerous to human health than known at the time of registration, the pesticide can be reviewed to discern whether further restrictions should be placed on its usage.
