Organics could protect children from pesticide exposure, symposium

The symposium, part of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, highlighted the need for a coordinated effort by farmers, the food industry and the government to reduce children's exposure to pesticides.

Major efforts currently underway in the US to reduce contamination risks include organic farming, regulation, the discovery of new pesticides, ecolabel programs and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), according to the speakers at the symposium.

However, despite passage in 1996 of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), which provided a new "reasonable certainty of no harm"​ standard to govern the review, establishment and adjustment of all pesticide tolerances, progress in reducing children's exposures to pesticides has been modest, said the speakers.

"Regulation, and the FQPA in particular, has advanced knowledge of pesticide risks and addressed residential risks reasonably well, but has done surprisingly little to reduce pesticide dietary risks,"​ said Dr. Charles Benbrook, chief scientist for the Organic Center.

"Regulation has great unfulfilled potential, but in the current political climate, it is unlikely that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going to alter its current tentative and deliberate course in implementing the FQPA,"​ he added.

Switching to an organic diet was identified by speaker Dr Chensheng Lu as an effective way to reduce contamination from two common organophosphorus pesticides (OP) used in the nation's agricultural production- malathion and chlorpyrifos.

According to Dr Lu and his colleagues from Emory University, the University of Washington and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children who were fed an organic diet had substantially decreased pesticide concentration to non-detectable levels.

The researchers conducted a study on 23 children aged 3 to 11 by testing their urine over a 15-day period, while the children alternated between their conventional diets and an organic diet.

According to Dr. Lu, there was a "dramatic and immediate protective effect"​ against the pesticides when the children were on organic diets.

Indeed, a recent report from organic supermarket Whole Foods Market, revealed that 73 percent of American consumers currently buy organic fruit and vegetables, with a major reason for this decision being to avoid pesticides.

According to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food consumption surveys, the average American consumes about two servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per day. And with 70 percent of the samples of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the country containing one or more pesticide residue, Americans consume pesticides through their diet about 105 million times each day, said the Organic Center's Dr Alan Greene.

Indeed, with growing concern about the environmental impact of artificial fertilizers and pesticides also contributing to the 20 percent annual growth in the nation's organics market, food manufacturers have been quick to tap into mainstream concerns about the consumption of possibly dangerous chemicals.

Some food companies and grower groups have prompted adoption of IPM and reduced-risk pest management systems through a variety of marketplace initiatives, including the use of ecolables that certify that food was grown in ways reducing the environmental impacts of farming systems.

However, speaking at yesterday's symposium, Dr Greene commented that "while progress has been made in the past decade in better understanding pesticide dietary exposures and risks, relatively little has been done that has produced tangible exposure and risk reduction."​

"The findings presented at this symposium provide a sound basis to identify promising and cost-effective options to achieve significant reduction in children's pesticide dietary risks, if farmers, the food industry, and the government choose to make a concerted effort to do so,"​ he added.