Maximum residual levels of pesticides and public health: best friends or faux amis?

Myriam Carrère (), Federica Demaria and Sophie Drogué
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Myriam Carrère: UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier

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Abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyse the relation between public health and the regulations of Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) of pesticides. Many authors underline the role of trade protectionism in fixing these limits whereas these regulations should be intended for public health protection. We first establish the link between the MRL for a given chemical in plant products and its level of toxicity. In order to perform this analysis we cross the FAS USDA MRL database and the classification of the long term toxicological effects (LTE) for active substances provided by SAgE pesticide. We then compute a synthetic and polyvalent tool namely "Health Score" which provides a first overview of the link between LTE and MRL by country. Then this score is regressed in a logit model in order to identify the relationship between the countries' Health Score and the socio-economic and political characteristics of such areas. Results highlight the importance of public health expenditures in determining the settings of MRL towards stricter levels.

Keywords: food safety; scoring; pesticide residues; fruits and vegetables; logit model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02628634v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Agricultural Economics, 2018, 49 (1), pp.111-118. ⟨10.1111/agec.12399⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Maximum residual levels of pesticides and public health: best friends or faux amis? (2018)
Working Paper: Maximum residual levels of pesticides and public health: best friends or faux amis ? (2015)
Working Paper: Maximum residual levels of pesticides and public health: best friends or faux amis ? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02628634

DOI: 10.1111/agec.12399

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