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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon@mindspring.com>
  • To: marketfarming@lists.ibiblio.org, permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] (fwd) Impact of Farming Systems on Pesticide Residues
  • Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 00:13:29 -0400

Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 16:51:23 -0700
Sender: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group
<SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>
From: Chuck Benbrook <benbrook@HILLNET.COM>
Subject: Impact of Farming Systems on Pesticide Residues

The impact of farming and pest management systems on food
safety
has been a recurring issue/debate on Sanet. Over the years lots of
opinions have been expressed based on dam little data. Well, finally
there
is a paper out in a peer-reviewed journal, "Food and Contaminants" (the
most prestigious journal in the world of analytical chemistry and food
contaminants) that provides some solid empirical evidence on one
dimension
of the debate -- impacts on pesticide residues in fruits and
vegetables.

USDA and FDA pesticide residue data have, for years, shown
that
residues are by far more common in fresh fruits and vegetables compared
to
other foods. While residues are reported in 30-40% of all samples
tested
in most surveys, they are found in 80-90 plus percent of many fruits
and
vegetables, including unfortunately those eaten most often by infants
and
children. And, multiple residues are surprisingly common in
conventional
produce, i.e. the average conventional apple sample tested by USDA-PDP
from
1994-1999 with residues has, on average, 3.2 different pesticides on/in
it.

All recent EPA risk assessments under the FQPA also show
clearly
that fresh fruits and vegetables are the most common dietary risk
drivers. The "Food and Contaminants" article reviews the frequency and
level of residues in organic, conventional, and No Detectable
Residue/IPM
labeled food. Residues are far less likely in organically grown
produce;
multiple residues are common in conventional produce but rare in
organic
foods; most residues in organic foods are from old organochlorine
residues
bound in the soil, or drift from nearby conventional fields; residues
tend
to be higher in conventional foods than organic samples.

The data show conclusively that consumers can reduce pesticide
exposures in the diet to very low levels by choosing to grow/purchase
organic produce. For more details, various press releases, and access
to
the full article, go to --

http://www.omri.org/FAC.html

Now when this issue comes up again, we can ground the debate
in
some hard data. More data will surface reasonably soon, as well.

Chuck

Charles Benbrook Ag BioTech InfoNet
<http://www.biotech-info.net>
Benbrook Consulting Services CU FQPA site
<http://www.ecologic-ipm.com>
5085 Upper Pack River Road IPM site <http://www.pmac.net>
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
Voice: (208)-263-5236
Fax: (208)-263-7342
E-mail: <benbrook@hillnet.com>

--

L.F.London ICQ#27930345 lflondon@mindspring.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech london@ibiblio.org



  • [permaculture] (fwd) Impact of Farming Systems on Pesticide Residues, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 05/08/2002

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