Pesticides In The Body - Don't Look, Don't Find

Government studies of chemicals in the body ignore pesticides found most frequently on foods By Dan Shapley News Editor When the government tests for chemicals people carry around in their bodies, it doesn''t check for the pesticides most commonly found on fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores. Trace amounts of agricultural chemicals -- so-called “pesticide residue” -- show up on many fruits and vegetables grown with conventional farming techniques. Some of the most contaminated produce includes seasonal favorites like peaches, apples, nectarines and strawberries. Several fungicides, insecticides and herbicides used to grow those crops show up repeatedly on tests. Those pesticides are being consumed in small doses by a wide swath of the U.S. population. Whether they accumulate in the body -- and whether they cause any harm -- are questions that aren''t being asked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted several “body burden” studies and found that dozens of industrial chemicals can be found in the average American''s tissues, blood or urine. But the CDC looks for relatively few pesticides, and fewer of the pesticides most commonly found on fruits and vegetables. “Just because they''re not looking for them or finding them doesn''t mean they''re not causing problems,” said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group. “And they''re certainly not looking for them.” The Environmental Working Group published its latest list of fruits and vegetables most and least likely to have pesticide residues in November. Most of the pesticides it shows most commonly appearing as residue are not on the CDC's list of chemicals it looks for in the bodies of Americans. Experts -- including Wiles -- caution that fear of pesticide residue should not deter people from eating fruits and vegetables. The level of exposure to pesticides on food is less than 10,000 times the level needed to make animals show a noticeable response in laboratory tests, said Carl Winter, director of the Food Safe Program at the University of California-Davis. “From that perspective, pesticide residue does not seem to be a real strong cause, in terms of risk,” he said. “If you look at a lot of food safety risks, pesticides are pretty low on the list.” Further, he said, most of the more modern pesticides found as residue break down quickly so would be unlikely to show up in body burden studies. Winter said there still are good reasons for consumers to choose organic produce, even if he doesn''t see pesticide residue as a health concern. He credited the public concern over pesticide residue with bolstering the organic movement, which in turn has paid dividends for the environment and farm workers. “Obviously, people have choices,” he said. “Organic and conventional -- it goes beyond pesticide residues on the final product. Support of local, environmental sustainability, worker safety -- all of that is important, and a lot of those issues are very legitimate.” The Environmental Working Group''s Wiles agreed, to a point. He sees pesticide residue as enough of an unknown that avoiding exposure is a wise choice. He recommends choosing organic varieties when possible, and when not possible, choosing those varieties that tend to have less residue. Those choices are particularly important for pregnant women and children. Testing for pesticides in people would help settle that debate, Wiles said. Because while some industrial chemicals found in biomonitoring studies turn out to be toxic, Wiles said, pesticides are designed to be toxic. “If we want to move pesticide policy to the next level of protection, biomonitoring, or looking for pesticides in people, would be the next step,” Wiles said. “They''re designed to be biologically active. They''re designed to kill.” SAFE FOOD WATCH: Eye On Pesticides A special report with news, tips, recipes and more Pesticide Body Burden? Don''t Look And Don''t Find Five Ways To Keep Your Family Safe From Pesticides Eco-Speak: Integrated Pest Management Pesticides And Food By The Numbers 6 Surefire Ways To Buy Organics On A Budget Steering Clear Of The Dirty Dozen Poached Figs, Apricots And Cherries (and More Organically Inspired Recipes) There's A 600-Pound Gorilla In The Room And It's American Farm Policy Pesticide Avoidance 101