Food and Drinking Water Limits for Pesticides

The EPA sets the legal limits for the amount of pesticides allowed in food and drinking water. In food, those limits are called "tolerances." In water, those limits may be called Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), health advisories (HA), or other names. The amount of pesticide allowed in water is specifically regulated for some pesticides, while health advisories are issued for others. For more information on the pesticide limits in water or food, see the resources below.

You can use the eCFR search tool to find tolerances for food published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Our tolerance search tool has been discontinued and replaced by a search tool on the federal eCFR page. You can search for active ingredients or food commodities there.

Additional Resources:

• Setting Tolerances for Pesticide Residues in Foods - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Pesticide Tolerances - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Food and Feed Commodity Vocabulary - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Indexes to Part 180 Tolerance Information for Pesticide Chemicals in Food and Feed Commodities - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Pesticide Use Site Index - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S. and International Pesticide Residue Limits - USDA/FAS Online
• U.S. EPA Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S. EPA Current Drinking Water Standards - Maximum Contaminant Levels - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

If you have questions about this, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 800-858-7378 (8:00am - 12:00pm PST), or email at npic@ace.orst.edu.