`You eat pesticides'

On June 29, the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its long-awaited report -- “Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children”.

The NAS concluded that testing procedures for measuring pesticide toxicity in children are flawed; sampling measures for foods containing pesticide residues are inadequate; models for evaluating pesticide intake are incomplete; and procedures for determining risks to children are largely in error.

The vast majority of pesticides used in the US have not been fully tested for short-term health effects, long-term health effects, or basic toxicological information on so-called “inert” or secret ingredients. Dr Philip Landrigan, chair of the NAS study panel, stated, “The current system for regulating pesticide residues for foods ...”

Another report was released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) just prior to the appearance of the NAS report. Based on data surveys of nearly 20,000 food samples tested between 1990 and 1992 by the Food and Drug Administration and private laboratories, the EWG found that more than half of the food samples had detectable, albeit generally low, residues of at least one pesticide.

Kenneth Cook, president of the EWG, remarked, “If you eat in this country, you eat pesticides. You eat small amounts of numerous pesticides, you quite likely eat them every day, and quite possibly in nearly every meal.”

The report documented 42 different pesticides detected on tomatoes, 38 on strawberries and 34 on apples. Paralleling the NAS critique, the EWG noted that the Environmental Protection Authority assesses health risks as though people were exposed to pesticides one at a time. [Pesticide Action Network Updates Service via Pegasus.]

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