North Carolina Dept, of Agriculture & Consumer Services 2 West Edenton St. • Raleigh, N. C. 27611
James A. Graham, Commissioner Phone:
919/733-3556
Fax:
919/733-9796
Vol. XVII - No. 2 Pesticide Section
/
Food & Drug Protection Division Summer/Fall 1999
http://unvw.agr.state.nc.us/fooddrug/pesticid/index.htm
Food and Drug Protection Division
Director, Robert L. Gordon, Retires
Bruce Williams Named New Director
oberl L. Gordon, Director of
the NCDA&CS-Food and
Drug Protection Division,
announced his retirement after
twenty-five years of service with the
Department. Mr. Gordon's retirement
became effective July 31, 1999. Mr. Gordon
began his career with the Department in
1974 as Drug Administrator and was
promoted in 1985 to Deputy Director. In
1991, Mr. Gordon became Director of the
Division.
Mr. Gordon has been a dedicated
employee and a man of many personal
and professional accomplishments
during his many years of service to
the State of North Carolina and its
citizens. One needs only to look at the
scope of the Food and Drug Protection
Division - from foods, dmgs, dairy products,
The North Carolina Pesticide
Board has approved funding
for a two-year study on the
human metabolism of important pesticides
used in North Carolina. The project leader,
Dr. Ernest Hodgson, and a team of
toxicologists propose to identify specific
interactions which pesticides may have
with human metabolic enzymes rather
than relying upon extrapolations.
For a number of years, the risk
assessments of pesticides have relied
upon arbitrary ten-fold uncertainty factors
to account for extrapolation from animal
studies and to take into consideration
lire variation within the human population.
Although very conservative, this approach
medical devices, cosmetics, commercial
animal feeds, pet foods, fertilizers,
antifreeze to pesticides - to appreciate the
enormous responsibility of managing the
daily operation of programs which are
so crucial to protecting the public's health
and safety and to promoting a clean, safe
environment.
Mr. Gordon's professional expertise
and technical competence as a registered
phannadst and as a manager of governmental
affairs, coupled with Iris overwhelming
dedication to serving the citizens of North
Carolina, will make him sorely missed.
We wish him the best of luck in his retirement.
N.C. Ag Commissioner James A.
Graham has announced that Mr. E, Bruce
Williams, the current Deputy Director of
the Food and Drug Protection Division,
will replace Mr. Gordon.
has been necessary since appropriate
data from the human population have
often not been available. The Food Quality
Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 now requires
an additional ten-fold safety factor for
the protection of infants and children,
thereby increasing the total uncertainty
factor to be required to one thousand¬
fold. In addition, FQPA now mandates
combined risk assessments for pesticides
which have the same mode of action.
These two additional requirements of
FQPA almost certainly will mean that
many beneficial pesticides will no longer
be available for use in North Carolina
(See Metabolism of Pesticides, Page 2)
Robert L. Gordon, Director of the
NCDA&CS-Food and Drug
Protection Division
• Student Contributions to
Stewardship Awarded
• Carrboro Using Hot Water to
Control Weeds
• NCPB Actions
• Recycling Program Expands
• Use Of Stinger Herbicide In
Apple Orchards Denied By EPA
• It's Time Again for Cotton
Defoliation
Board Approves Study of Human
Metabolism of Pesticides
