It was Tuesday, May 20, when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testified before a Senate committee hearing. During the hearing, Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi grilled the leader of the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA Commission, about its report that is critical of farm chemical use. She asked Kennedy point-blank if he had been able to refute 50 years of U.S. government scientific reviews and if that would show up in the report.

FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) continues to use the “risk cup” concept, though it’s been refined over time. The “risk cup” is a conceptual tool used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to estimate the total pesticide exposure and risk to humans. It represents the total allowable risk from a pesticide, considering exposure from various sources like food, water, and residential uses.