Song in my head: Feed the babies who don't have enough to eat....Shoe the children with no shoes on their feet....House the people living in the street.....Oh, oh, there's a solution...Steve Miller Band

Pests or Pesticides...Whatcha Eating?

Which would you rather have? Perfect looking fruit and vegetables with no insect damage but coated with pesticide residues or imperfect produce with insect damage. I'll take the less cosmetic alternative of produce with insect damage, thank you. Mind you, I am a bit biased. I have been organic gardening for 25 years now and my background in environmental health has affirmed my choice of eating less than perfect produce when I can grow my own or afford organic produce.

I live in an agricultural area where, along with the scenery and sweet scent of acres of fruit blossoms in April, there is an invisible poison spoiling the environmental health of a gorgeous National Scenic Area. Along with the pruning and harvesting of the orchards comes the practice of the application of Guthion or azinphos-methyl, an organophosphate pesticide used to kill coddling moths.

Hood River, Oregon is a leading producer of pears and apples in the country. In Oregon, 74 percent of apples and 68 percent of pears were sprayed with Guthion in 2003, the most recent year for which the National Agricultural Statistics Service has published records.

Oregon is the third-leading state nationally in pear production, with $73.8 million in sales. Its $19.7 million apple crop is dwarfed by neighboring Washington, which typically sells more than $1 billion worth of apples each year. Oregonian

Back in my career days I worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (the answer to pollution is dilution) in pesticide residue analysis. I studied azinphos-methyl for a few years doing various toxicilogy studies on wildlife. The studies were conducted for the renewal of the registration of this insecticide. I have much respect for the hazards of this central nervous system depressant that is acutely toxic but degrades over a period of time. A recent Oregonian article describes these health risks from azinphos methyl:

In high enough doses, Guthion can be fatal to humans, but at lower exposures, it causes runny eyes, headaches and nausea. Organophosphates depress levels of an enzyme in human bodies called cholinesterase, and pesticide sprayers and mixers in Washington and California -- the only states that require testing -- have experienced significant drops in cholinesterase. Oregonian

I worked in a pesticide residue laboratory using numerous pieces of protective gear. Gloves, lab coat, safety glasses, and working under a fume hood was the only safe way to work with this pesticide. Unfortunately, farmworkers, many of them migrant Latinos, are not as knowledgeable or covered under OSHA recommended procedures. So it was with great irony that when I moved to Hood River I observed many orchards applying Guthion as an insecticide on the pears, cherries and apples grown here. The significant aspect in exposure to this chemical can be seen in the appropriate period of time farmworkers can re-enter a sprayed field safely which contradicts the E.P.A.'s recommendations and does not follow sound science.

The EPA concluded way back in 2001 that Guthion, an organophosphate pesticide derived from nerve agents developed in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, posed serious health risks to farmworkers in apple, pear, cherry and other fruit orchards. The agency's own research in 2001 showed that apple pickers could not safely re-enter orchards for 102 days after Guthion was sprayed. Pressured by industry, the EPA caved, and set a standard of just 14 days for re-entry. Oregonian Editorial

Clearly there is a huge difference between 14 days vs. 102 days when considering the safe entry of an orchard safely. In all practicality, farmworkers need to enter fields often before the recommended time to turn on and off irrigation, move irrigation equipment, stake fruit, and monitor crops and other fruit conditions like scab and rusts. Also, many migrant worker's housing is adjacent to these acutely toxic orchards, which leads many children to be unnecessarily exposed.

Thanks to an environmental group called Earthjustice and farm laborer right's groups the Environmental Protection Agency is banning the insecticide prompted by a lawsuit initiated by these groups.

The EPA now proposes to phase out all uses of the chemical by 2010, with some uses phased out by next year. The decision also eliminates aerial spraying, requires 100-foot buffers around water bodies and requires medical monitoring of workers entering fields sprayed with Guthion. The federal agency will take comments on its proposal over the next two months before making a final decision. Oregonian Editorial

How much pesticides are used in Oregon? Unfortunately exact numbers are not known but a new statewide tracking system hopes to quantify pesticide use and use the data to research pesticide's health effects.

OHSU's research expert on pesticides reports there is simply no conclusive data showing whether long-term exposure to bug-sprayed produce causes cancer.

“We don't really know,” he said.

But state lawmakers are hoping to get some of that data for the first time, requiring farms to report pesticide use on the Internet, starting in January. KGW Link

I tend to disagree with this research expert's opinion. According to a recent study the incidence of Parkinson's disease has been recently linked to pesticides. The researchers tracked individuals for approximately 20 years; a quality of a rigorous and thorough epidemiological study.

Exposure to pesticides is linked to a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, say researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, USA. People with low level exposure to pesticide sprays have a 70% increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease when compared to people with no or very low exposure. Medical News Today

My personal recommendation: avoid produce with pesticide residues by supporting local organic farmers and wash all of your produce before eating it. I am convinced the evidence is there to support the avoidance, if all possible, of pesticide residue tainted produce. If I needed to use a fume hood to work around this toxin, farmworkers are undoubtedly suffering negative health consequences from early and over-exposures and consumers are supporting an industry of cosmetically perfect produce coated with an invisible poison.

[crossposted and sheepshanked at Wagontongues]