Long Term Health Risks of Pesticide in Food

Most food used to be organic. It was only in the 1940s that synthetic pesticides started to be used and their use quickly became widespread. Synthetic pesticide use has increased 50-fold since 1950. Over 2.5 million tons of synthetic pesticide is now used every year.

There are of course stringent regulations on what is allowed to be used and what isn’t, and all new products have to go through rigorous testing. But the one thing that isn’t known, nor could it be, is the long-term health risk of low doses of pesticide in the foods we eat. As the American Medical Association puts it (1):

“Particular uncertainty exists regarding the long-term effects of low-dose pesticide exposures. Current surveillance systems are inadequate to characterize potential exposure problems related either to pesticide usage or pesticide-related illnesses…Considering these data gaps, it is prudent…to limit pesticide exposures…and to use the least toxic chemical pesticide or non-chemical alternative”

The World Health Organization states (2) that 3 million agricultural workers are poisoned by pesticides every year, and 18.000 of them die. If these chemicals can kill the workers, it’s not too much of a stretch to suppose that they have long term health risks for people eating the foods they are used on. It’s thought that they contribute to: respiratory disorders, memory disorders, dermatological conditions, allergies, cancer, depression, birth defects and neurological conditions, and those are just the major ones.

Even after being washed, many fruits and vegetables still contain pesticide residues. For example, in a recent test (3), 98% of non-organic apples still had pesticide residue even after being washed.

Thankfully, there is an easy way of mitigating the risks associated with pesticide use, if you wish to do so: buy as much organic food as you can find and afford. It does tend to be a little more expensive at present, but the price is going down all the time as more is grown. Even if you can only get a small number of organic items, it could make a difference. There are statistics on increases in organic farming in these 2 reports:

http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/statistics/tirorganigstats07.pdf

http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/statistics/index.shtml

The picture above is Helen with a very  happy and healthy sheep on her lap (I think it‘s Ivy), one that never had to eat grass with chemicals in it. Much organic meat is available now, even in supermarkets. I wouldn’t know myself as I’m vegetarian, but apparently it tastes better as well as being free from pesticide contamination.

Cheers, Tom.

(1) The American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs, 1997

(2) Sustaining the Earth, 6th edition. Thompson Learning, Inc. Pacific Grove, California. Chapter 9, Pages 211-216.

(3) Pesticide Data Program (February 2006). "Annual Summary Calendar Year 2005" (pdf). USDA.